Suspect in killing of Lenoir-Rhyne University student ‘found hiding,’ NC cops say

The search for an “armed and dangerous” suspect in the killing of a Lenoir-Rhyne University football player has ended in an arrest, according to the Hickory Police Department.

Quavius Shamond Izard, 21, “was found hiding on a property in Collettsville, NC, by the owner,” police said in a release.

Izard was taken into custody around 5:40 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 24, and has been charged with first degree murder, officials said. He was being held without bond in the Catawba County Jail, officials said.

Details of where Izard was hiding were not released. Collettsville is about 85 miles northwest of uptown Charlotte, in Caldwell County.

Izard is a suspect in the death of 19-year-old Omari Alexander of Concord. He was a sophomore at Lenoir-Rhyne University in Hickory and played tight end on the football team. Before college, he played football at Mallard Creek High in Charlotte.

Alexander died shortly before 1 a.m. Saturday, Nov. 20, in the parking lot of the Civitan Court Apartments in Hickory, officials said.

“Upon arrival, officers located a black 2015 Chevrolet Camaro with the engine running,” Hickory police said in a news release.

“Officers approached the vehicle and observed an unresponsive ... male, Omari Drovon Alexander, sitting in the driver’s seat of the vehicle with multiple gunshot wounds.”

A warrant was issued two days later for Izard as a suspect in the shooting.

Hailee Maureen Melanson, 20, has also been arrested in connection with the case, police said. She was charged Nov. 22 with felony accessory after the fact, according to a release.

Melanson was being held without bond in the Catawba County Jail.

This story was originally published November 25, 2021 at 5:16 AM with the headline "Suspect in killing of Lenoir-Rhyne University student ‘found hiding,’ NC cops say."