SUSSEX COUNTY, Va. -- Pastor Hugh Mayes and his wife Carol are at VCU Medical Center in the intensive care unit, according to sources. The couple was found stabbed multiple times in their Sussex County home Monday morning. Pastor Mayes has a stab wound to the chest and his wife suffered stab wounds to her neck and chest, sources said.
A man broke into the pastor's home and stabbed the couple multiple times as they slept, according to the Sussex County Sheriff’s Office. Now investigators are looking for the stabbing suspect identified as 21-year-old Maxim Lloyd Chisholm. The Mayes and their church were helping Chisholm, who lived with the couple from time to time, get back on his feet.
As detectives investigated the disturbing stabbing scene in Sussex County, members of the US Marshal’s Task Force chased leads on their suspect in nearby Colonial Heights.
"Three US Marshals knocked on the door," said Rae Graves, a retired police officer who lives in Colonial Heights. "They said they had received a report that he was in the neighborhood and asked if I had seen him."
Pastor Mayes leads the congregation at Shiloh Baptist Church in Carson. Church members are stunned, especially that a man helped extensively by the pastor and his wife, now stands accused of such brutality against them.
"I just grabbed a towel and put pressure on the wounds while he called 9-1-1," neighbor Stanton Benson said.
"Everyone fell in love with Max and they did everything for him,” said church member Janet Brockwell. “When he got a car and job, though, things changed."
Church members said things changed so much that the pastor and his wife asked him to move out of their Sussex home. Detectives said he'd been gone for about a month.
Graves said when marshals knocked on his door on Clifton Drive, he quickly offered to help. "I'm still vigilant,” said Graves. “You know the old cliché, once a cop always a cop. It's certainly appropriate."
Chisholm is said to be armed and dangerous. Police said he has ties to Chesterfield County. If you know where he is, call the Marshal's tip line at 1-877- WANTED 2.
