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RALEIGH – In federal court here this week, Talametrius Kenyon Spruill, age 42, was sentenced to 15 years in prison for being a felon in possession of ammunition after being found guilty by a jury in June 2024.

According to court records and evidence presented at trial, Spruill, possessed four cartridge casings that were left behind after he fired at Hertford County Sheriff’s deputies in the early morning hours of July 16, 2023. Deputies responded to a call about a suspicious person after a woman reported that someone was banging on her window at 3 a.m. that morning.

The first responding deputy found Spruill sitting in the front passenger seat of the homeowner’s vehicle, holding a firearm. The deputy ordered Spruill to put the gun away when Spruill fled to the woods line behind the residence.

The second deputy saw Spruill in the woods line as he pulled up in his squad car. The deputy immediately exited his vehicle with his gun drawn and announced, “Sheriff’s Office, show me your hands!” as he approached Spruill, who was now crouched in a shallow drainage ditch behind a neighboring house.

Spruill did not show his hands and instead fired a Glock 19 semiautomatic handgun four times at the deputy. The deputy retreated and returned fire while tripping over a doghouse on the property and getting bit by the resident dog.

Despite the exchange of gunfire, neither the deputy nor Spruill was struck.

Spruill managed to evade deputies and was found on July 17, 2023, four miles away in Aulander. Spruill was arrested and interviewed by the FBI, where he confessed that he was at the original crime scene, ran from the police, and discharged his firearm before getting rid of it in the junkyard.

Spruill was sentenced to the maximum sentence allowed by statute. His criminal history includes prior violent conduct involving a firearm.

Spruill was convicted of assault with a deadly weapon with the intent to kill and possession of a firearm by felon in 2010 and served 50 to 70 months in the North Carolina Department of Adult Corrections for the conduct. At the time of this offense, Spruill was on pretrial release for state charges of discharging a weapon into an occupied dwelling or moving vehicle.

Spruill still has pending state charges related to his July 16 conduct for attempted first-degree murder, possession of firearm by a felon, and assault with a deadly weapon on a government official.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office asked the court to order that the state sentence run consecutively to the 15-year federal sentence. The court agreed that Spruill’s conduct warranted consecutive sentences.

Michael F. Easley, Jr., U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of North Carolina made the announcement after sentencing this week by Chief U.S. District Judge Richard E. Myers II.

The Hertford County Sheriff’s Office and the FBI investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney’s Phil Aubart and Kimberly Dixon prosecuted the case.

“Today’s sentencing serves as a stark reminder that any act of violence against law enforcement will be met with the full force of justice,” said Hertford County Sheriff Dexter Hayes. “Those who target the brave men and women who risk their lives to protect and serve our communities will be held accountable.

“This outcome underscores our unwavering commitment to ensuring the safety of our officers and upholding the rule of law. Thank you to US Attorney Michael F. Easley Jr. and his staff for a job well done. To my law enforcement officers, job well done,” Hayes added.