A North Carolina prosecutor says he will seek the death penalty against the man accused in the kidnapping, rape and murder of a teenager last year.

News sources report Robeson County District Attorney Matt Scott voiced his intentions at a hearing Thursday in the case of Michael McLellan, who is charged with first-degree murder and other offenses.

Scott said the crimes fit the criteria for the state to seek the death penalty, noting that the aggravating circumstances included McLellan's criminal record which consists of violent crimes and the "extremely atrocious, heinous and cruel" murder of 13-year-old Hania Aguilar.

Hania's body was found in a body of water about 10 miles (16 kilometers) south of the mobile home park where she was kidnapped last November.