‘Really terrifying’: Women say man accused of kidnapping, murder stalked them

CHARLOTTE — Two women told Channel 9 a man accused of killing a young mother and dumping her body in the woods stalked them at their apartment complex.

Madison Franco and Laura Littlejohn moved into their apartment in west Charlotte in August. They told Channel 9′s Mark Becker that shortly after, a man began harassing them to the point where they became uncomfortable.

“It’s been weird, creepy, sexually motivated -- it’s just weird,” Franco said.

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The stalking went to the next level on the night of Sept. 24, when Franco said the man approached her as she was getting out of her car. She said he came toward her aggressively and she recorded the encounter on her cell phone.

“I was just kind of warning him, telling him to get away from me because he was about this close to my face and he wouldn’t stop,” she said. “Kept following me as I was walking toward my apartment and the situation just escalated.”

Safeeq Hall recorded on cellphone video (WSOC)

Franco said she used pepper spray on him and he came back and tried to attack her with a stun gun.

“You could see it in his eyes,” she said. “It was really terrifying.”

Later that night, police arrested the man and charged him with assaulting Franco, but he was out of jail several hours later.

Three weeks later, police charged the same man -- later identified as Safeeq Hall -- with the murder of 30-year-old Miranda Springs. Her body was found in the woods just a couple of blocks away from the apartment complex where Franco and Littlejohn said they were harassed.

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Detectives believe Springs was killed before Franco was attacked, according to police sources.

The women told Channel 9 they had tried to tell police that Hall was dangerous but nothing was done until he finally attacked. They said they wonder if Springs’ death could have been prevented if someone had listened to them the first time.

“That’s why I’m so angry, because a woman lost her life for no reason, because all they needed to do was listen,” Littlejohn said.

Channel 9 asked police to respond to Franco and Littlejohn’s concerns and they sent a statement acknowledging that they’d arrested Hall after the attack and that they’re working tirelessly in pursuit of public safety.

(WATCH: Man charged with murder after woman’s body found in west Charlotte woods)