Man fatally stabbed at hotel

Paul B. Johnson, The High Point Enterprise, N.C.
·2 min read

Jan. 22—HIGH POINT — A High Point man is accused of killing a Reidsville man this past weekend at a city hotel.

Kelvin Blackwell Jr., 32, was stabbed about 2:25 a.m. Saturday at the InTown Suites at 2860 N. Main St. in the northwest part of High Point, according to a High Point Police Department report. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

Refugio Z. Morales, 34, was arrested at the hotel and charged with first-degree murder. Morales was in custody Monday at the Guilford County Jail in High Point with no bond allowed.

Police did not release any other information but said the homicide was an isolated incident and there is no threat to the community.

The president of the Oakview Citizens Council, Jim Bronnert, said Monday that he has been communicating with police for the past two weeks about ongoing crime at the hotel.

Between Jan. 1, 2022, and this past Sunday, officers were called to the hotel 979 times, the High Point Police Department said.

Bronnert said that he and other Oakview residents worry that activities such as vagrancy and aggressive panhandling will seep into the neighborhood. The Oakview Citizens Council has invited city officials to discuss the issue at a community meeting Feb. 12 at 6:30 p.m. at Oakview Recreation Center.

Police say that they take the reports of problems at InTown Suites seriously. Since 2022 officers have completed more than 230 special checks at the hotel. Special checks include driving and walking around the property, going inside the hotel to check on what's happening, talking to people and noting anything suspicious.

"This is a proactive step toward deterring and preventing crime in the area," a police spokeswoman told The Enterprise.

Of the calls that brought police to InTown Suites the past two years, common reasons included suspicious vehicles, domestic disturbances and trespassing, according to police.

A corporate media representative with InTown Suites couldn't be reached Monday by The Enterprise.

Bronnert said he hopes city officials can produce concrete steps to take to address the problems related to the hotel.

"We would like that place to become more of an asset rather than a liability," he said. "I don't know how that can be achieved, what the city can do. We are talking with the city to figure out what can be done."

The death is the first homicide in High Point this year.

pjohnson@hpenews.com — 336-888-3528 — @HPEpaul