Autopsy provides new details in deadly stabbing at high school in Jacksonville

JACKSONVILLE, N.C. (WITN) - An autopsy released this afternoon provides more details on a deadly stabbing last year inside a high school in Jacksonville.

Saddique Melvin died on September 1st after being stabbed in a second-floor hallway at Northside High School. Another student was injured in the attack.

Police initially said a 16-year-old boy was charged with voluntary manslaughter, assault with a deadly weapon, assault on a school official, and possess a weapon on school campus/property. A 15-year-old boy and a 16-year-old boy were both charged with two counts of assault and disorderly conduct at school.

But the public never learned what happened to those teens as the district attorney announced in November that the case was closed on the deadly stabbing. D.A. Ernie Lee said the law prevented him from releasing the outcome because of their ages.

WITN obtained Melvin’s autopsy which said the 17-year-old was stabbed once in the left chest by another student. The weapon was a knife with a 3-1/2 inch blade.

Jacksonville police released little information when the stabbing originally happened, but the autopsy fills in some of those details.

It says video recorded the fight that was broken up by school staff. The video showed Melvin passing out in a teacher’s arms and then he regained consciousness. It goes on to say the teen was seen standing by himself around a balcony in the common area of the second floor and then he passed out again.

The autopsy said attempts to revive Melvin began but he died at Naval Medical Center Camp Lejeune at 7:49 a.m.

An obituary said the teen was survived by his mother and four siblings.

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