Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

AHOSKIE – A second person has been arrested in a murder that occurred here in December of last year.

Ahoskie Police Chief Jimmy Asbell said that 21-year-old Jaheim Dashawn Vaughan of Murfreesboro was taken into custody on Wednesday. Vaughan was at a residence on Commerce Street in Aulander at the time of his arrest.

Vaughan is held under no bond at the Hertford County Detention Center on a charge of first-degree murder. He was also charged with possession of a stolen vehicle, for which his bond was set at $2,000.

The arrest stems from an incident on Dec. 3, 2022 where Ahoskie Police officers responded to a shots fired call in the 900 block of East First Street. When officers arrived on scene, they found Za’Mari T. Bunch, 18, of Ahoskie suffering from a gunshot wound. Bunch died Dec. 20 at a hospital.

A 17-year-old juvenile from Pitt County was the first person arrested for Bunch’s murder. He was taken into custody in December at a residence in Grimesland. At that time, Asbell said the investigation was not closed on Bunch’s murder.

“Our investigation continued and we were able to develop Jaheim Vaughan as a person of interest,” Asbell stated. “We were able to obtain warrants on Mr. Vaughan on Wednesday of this week and after learning of his location in Aulander those warrants were served.”

Asbell thanked his investigators for their continued efforts in this murder case as well as thanking the Bertie County Sheriff’s Office and Hertford County Sheriff’s Office in Wednesday’s apprehension of Vaughan.