30 October 2019 :

A Dare County jury recommended the death penalty for Mikel Brady, 28, White. Brady is 1 of 4 prisoners charged in the deadly Pasquotank County failed prison break on October 12, 2017. He was found guilty on October 21 on charges including 4 counts of 1st-degree murder, attempted prison escape, attempted murder, assault with a deadly weapon, intent to kill and setting fire to the prison for the deaths of 4 prison employees. The victims were: sewing plant manager Veronica Darden, maintenance worker Geoffrey Howe and correctional officers Justin Smith and Wendy Shannon. Brady, who has a lengthy criminal history in Vermont, was at Pasquotank serving a 24 year sentence for the 2013 attempted murder of North Carolina Highway Patrolman Michael Potts. Thomas Manning, Brady's defense attorney, spoke about his client's dysfunctional childhood that led to bad decision making. Superior Court Judge Jerry Tillett has not set a sentencing date.