Another person was in the house at 85 Mobley Street when Michael Wayne Davis was beaten to death with a sharpened object Sunday morning.

Major Bruce Temple of the Halifax County Sheriff’s Office said in a press release an unnamed woman was forced at knifepoint from one to another where she was tied to the bed.

The woman was able to free herself and report the crime.

The sheriff’s office filed warrants against Richard Charles Demello, 54, for the crimes against the woman as well as a murder warrant for Davis’s death.

In the assault against the woman Demello faces charges of first-degree kidnapping, larceny of a motor vehicle and assault with a deadly weapon.

Temple said Davis, 47, died from repeated blunt force trauma to his upper torso.

Demello lived with Davis for more than a month and a half. They met each other when they were in prison.

Demello, 54, has ties to Harnett County, Rhode Island and Missouri. He allegedly stole the victim’s car, a blue 1998 Dodge Neon possibly with a spoiler, and could possibly be headed north, south or west.

The license plate is YWZ-2442.

Demello is short with a thin build and has tattoos. Efforts to locate Demello are continuing and the sheriff’s office has submitted the case to America’s Most Wanted as it is believed he left the area.

Anyone with information on Demello’s location is encouraged to contact the Halifax County Sheriff's Office at 252-583-8201 or Halifax County Crimestoppers at 252-583-4444.