Accused shot in standoff with police

A Mount Airy woman died Monday from injuries suffered when she was shot Sunday night, and her estranged husband, a suspect in her shooting, was in critical condition Monday evening after being shot by police earlier in the day.

The suspect’s shooting came after an armed confrontation with Surry County Sheriff’s Office deputies and officials with the North Carolina Highway Patrol.

Deonna Hiatt, 19, died at 11:30 a.m. Monday at Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center from a gunshot wound to the head she received Sunday night.

Authorities found Hiatt unresponsive Sunday night with a gunshot wound to her left temple, bound by the legs with a leather jacket in a 2006 Chevrolet Silverado that belonged to her parents, Surry County Sheriff Graham Atkinson said. They were responding to a 911 call that reported a breaking and entering at Hiatt Asphalt Paving Company, after a neighbor reported seeing someone using a backhoe at the business location at 280 Dusty Lane.

Hiatt’s estranged husband, 26-year-old Christopher Scott Hiatt, was considered “a person of interest” in the case because of prior domestic disputes, Atkinson said, but authorities were unable to locate him Sunday night.

“When daylight broke, that’s when we sent a phone alert (through the Emergency Notification System) to the area for people to be on the lookout for Christopher Scott Hiatt. An elderly gentleman on Sable Lane called in and said that the man was beating on the door of his home trying to get in. That’s when deputies pulled up. He then pulled out a gun and began shooting at our officers. They returned fire. That’s when he was shot, and took off into the woods,” Atkinson said.

The N.C. Highway Patrol helicopter aided in the search, spotting Hiatt in a wooded area Dusty Lane and Sable Lane off Greentown Road about an hour after he exchanged gunfire with police.

The sheriff said the suspect was shot in the abdomen, but could not speak about any other wounds Hiatt may have received. Surry County Emergency Medical Services transported the suspect to Northern Hospital of Surry County where he was airlifted to Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center.

According to John Shelton, director of Surry County EMS, the suspect underwent surgery to for multiple gunshot wounds Monday afternoon.

“He’s listed in critical condition, but they are stabilizing him through the surgery. In critical cases such as this, we usually keep a 72-hour window open to see how well the patient is going to recover,” Shelton said.

Shelton said Hiatt allegedly was using the backhoe to dig a grave for Deonna Hiatt. Atkinson said that Christopher Hiatt is related to the owners of the paving company.

Atkinson said Hiatt has not been charged in the case, and probably won’t be until he is released from the hospital. Warrants charging him with assault with a deadly weapon had been issued, but not served, and the sheriff said he was in the process of getting the assault with a deadly weapon charge dropped with Deonna’s death, and was working Monday afternoon getting a first degree murder warrant issued.

Authorities are still unclear where the victim was when she was shot. Atkinson said he was told that her mother, Diane Wood, was concerned when her daughter failed to return home when her shift at WalMart ended at 6 p.m. Sunday.

Clifton Jessup, a resident at 332 Greentown Road, said he was standing on his back deck when he heard between eight to 10 gunshots Monday morning. He said he had never seen so many sheriff deputies and highway patrolmen.

“This is a quiet neighborhood, nothing like this has ever happened here before,” Jessup said.

The 19-year-old Hiatt had two small children, Atkinson said. She had been living with her parents.

In addition to the N.C. Highway Patrol, the Sheriff’s Office was assisted by the Mount Airy Police Department, Surry EMS and the Four Way Volunteer Fire Department.

An investigation is continuing by the State Bureau of Investigation and Surry County Sheriff’s Office.

Contact Mondee Tilley at mtilley@mtairynews.com or at 719-1930.