Search warrant reveals how investigators located suspect in nursery owner’s death

Court documents released Monday gave details about how authorities in York County located a suspect accused of killing popular Charlotte nursery owner Jesse Campbell.

Sheriff’s deputies found Campbell dead of an apparent gunshot wound in his home on Pine Moss Lane on Jan. 6.

A concerned employee had gone to Campbell’s home when he didn’t show up for work at Campbell’s Greenhouses and Nursery in Charlotte’s Dilworth neighborhood, and saw him lying on the floor.

Deputies used an ax to get into the house, located on a peninsula in an upscale part of Lake Wylie.

On Thursday, police arrested a former greenhouse employee, Kevin Mauricio Arita Dejesus, 21, of Charlotte, and charged him with murder. Investigators haven’t released a motive.

A search warrant obtained by the Observer’s news partner, WBTV, says detectives believe the suspect’s vehicle hit a tree as it sped away from Campbell’s home, leaving parts of the rear tail light assembly at the crime scene.

Authorities collected vehicle parts from the scene, according to WBTV, and determined the vehicle involved was a blue Toyota Tacoma.

Detectives interviewed a greenhouse employee who said a temporary employee at Campbell’s Greenhouses drove a similar vehicle. The employee also gave details about where the suspect lived.

Investigators later located a blue 2006 Tacoma with damage to both tail lights near Tyvola Road in southwest Charlotte, according to the search warrant. That vehicle and other information led them to consider Dejesus a suspect.

Police pulled Dejesus over last week in Charlotte, according to WBTV. He was driving a truck with a damaged tail light.

This story was originally published January 25, 2016 at 6:35 PM with the headline "Search warrant reveals how investigators located suspect in nursery owner’s death."