AHOSKIE – An arrest has been made in a fatal shooting that occurred here last weekend.

Kendrick Kendale Jones, 26, of 647 Horton’s Church Road, Aulander, was picked-up late Friday afternoon and transported to the Ahoskie Police Department. There he was served with five warrants – first degree murder, assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill, inciting a riot and possess, sell, buy, alter the serial number of a weapon, all felonies. He was also charged with go armed to the terror of people, a misdemeanor.

After being processed at the Ahoskie Police Department, Jones was transported to the Hertford County Jail where he will be held under no bond on the murder charge. Bond on the other charges is not known at this time.

Jones is alleged to have shot and killed 19-year-old Ivan Jerome Coulton of Ahoskie sometimes after midnight on Saturday, May 15. Coulton, a former Hertford County High School football standout who was on an athletic scholarship at North Carolina A&T State University in Greensboro, died at 6:51 a.m. Saturday after being transported to Pitt County Memorial Hospital in Greenville.

Ahoskie Police Chief Troy Fitzhugh did not share any information on how Jones was developed as a suspect.

“This investigation is far from over,” Fitzhugh said shortly after Jones was taken inside the Ahoskie Police Station at around 7:45 p.m. “We’re just happy to have made this arrest without any further incident.”

Jones, who was leaving from his place of employment, was picked-up by Hertford County Sheriff’s Deputy Tom Helms who transported the suspect to the Ahoskie Police Department.

The shooting, which occurred in a lot off Catherine Street, took place following a disturbance at BJ’s, a nightclub located in the 200 block of East Main Street. Ahoskie Police officers were dispatched to the scene, where Fitzhugh said they found a large and unruly crowd, and shut the club down at 12:50 a.m. due to safety concerns.

Fitzhugh said that upon shutting the club down, officers then responded to a large crowd on First and Maple streets. “Next, my officers responded to a fight and gun shots being fired on Catherine Street,” Fitzhugh reported. “An officer with the Ahoskie PD on foot ran to the gun shot call. There was a large crowd. Once the officer located the victim, the officer called for police and medical assistance.”