U.S. Marshals Capture West Tennessee Rape Fugitive in Michigan

Trenton, TN – The U.S. Marshals Service (USMS) in the Western District of Tennessee and the Eastern District of Michigan coordinated to capture a fugitive, Cedric Joseph Howell, who was wanted for sex crimes in Tennessee.

Following an investigation by the Trenton (TN) Police Department and the TN Department of Children’s Services, arrest warrants were issued on September 12, 2024, charging Cedric Howell, 39, of Trenton, with rape and incest. Trenton police requested assistance from the USMS Two Rivers Violent Fugitive Task Force (TRVFTF) in Jackson, Tennessee, to locate and apprehend Howell.

The TRVFTF developed information that Howell had fled to the Detroit, Michigan area and provided investigative leads to the USMS. On September 20, deputy marshals from the fugitive task force tracked Howell to a store in Pontiac, Michigan. He was taken into custody on the parking lot and will be held at a detention facility pending extradition back to Tennessee.

The U.S. Marshals Two Rivers Violent Fugitive Task Force is a multi-agency task force within Western Tennessee. The TRVFTF has offices in Memphis and Jackson, and its membership is composed of Deputy U.S. Marshals, Shelby, Fayette, and Tipton County Sheriff’s Deputies, Memphis and Jackson Police Officers, Tennessee Department of Correction Special Agents, and the Tennessee Highway Patrol. Since 2021, the TRVFTF has captured over 2,600 violent fugitives and sexual predators.