Free Press Crime Blog

From the office of District Attorney Dewey Hudson:

On March 2, 2009, Andrew Williams, age 34, pled guilty to voluntary manslaughter in Duplin County Superior Court for the death of Michael Shane Ray, age 34, that occurred on June 20, 2008.  The defendant also pled guilty to malicious conduct by a prisoner that occurred on November 23, 2008 and involved spitting on jailer James Whitfield of the Duplin County Sheriff’s Office.  The defendant was sentenced to a minimum of 103 months and a maximum of 133 months in the North Carolina Department of Correction by the Honorable Russell J. Lanier, Jr. The State was represented by Chief Assistant District Attorney Ernie Lee and Assistant District Attorney Bob Roupe.  The defendant was represented by Kevin Heckart of Burgaw, North Carolina. 

    The evidence for the State showed that on June 20, 2008, the Warsaw Police Department and NC State Bureau of Investigation responded to a homicide that occurred at the Warsaw Inn at 816 North Pine Street, Warsaw, North Carolina.  Officers and agents proceeded to Room 240.   The Duplin County Sheriff’s Office provided assistance in this investigation as well.  On June 24, 2008, Jennifer Marie Hill was interviewed by SA R.D. Reeves of the SBI and Lt. Phil Humphrey.  Ms. Hill was a witness to the homicide.  Hill stated that the victim had been to motel room of Hill and the defendant a couple of times on June 20, 2008.  On one occasion, the victim requested a crack pipe.  The victim returned to the room a third time at approximately 10:25 p.m. and the defendant told the victim not to return to the room.  An argument ensued between the victim and defendant.  The victim returned to the motel room and the victim attempted to force himself inside the room.  She indicated that the victim pushed and swung at the defendant.  During this altercation, the victim was stabbed by the defendant in the parking lot in front of the motel room.  The next day, the defendant admitted to her that he used a pocketknife and he told her “I’m sorry, I think I messed up.”

     On June 24, 2008, the defendant was interviewed by SA Scott Kennedy of the SBI and Captain Jerry Wood of the Warsaw Police Department.  The defendant said that the victim kept going to his room at the Warsaw Inn where defendant and Jennifer Marie Hill were staying.  The victim bought a crack pipe from them.  The victim kept returning to the defendant’s room and he told him to not return.  At approximately 1:30 a.m. on June 20, 2008, the victim threatened the defendant and the victim swung at the defendant.  The defendant grabbed an opened knife that was on top of the dresser.  The knife had been used to cut Brillo pads to stick inside the stems to smoke crack.  Defendant admitted to swinging the knife at the victim, the victim grabbed him, and victim started stabbing at the victim to get him away.  Defendant said he struck the victim in the mouth with his fist.  The agent noticed a tooth mark on his right index finger.  The fight landed up outside the motel room.  Defendant dropped the knife and ran off.  He found out the victim was dead later that day after his mother told him.  He said the knife had a 3 inch blade. 

     Willie Satchell was interviewed and said that about a week after the victim was killed the defendant told him he killed the victim in self-defense.    

     An autopsy performed by Dr. John Almeida of Onslow Memorial Hospital on June 21, 2008 determined the cause of death to be a stab wound to the left side of the chest entering the heart causing massive exsanguination.   The victim also suffered a slash wound to the right chin and stab wounds to the left chin.  Cocaine was present in the victim and his blood ethanol was 150 mg/dL.  The pathologist estimated the knife to be 5 to 7 cm long or approximately 3 inches long.

     The defendant has been convicted of assault on a female in Duplin County in 2000, driving while impaired in Duplin County in 2008, and other misdemeanors.  The victim has been convicted of numerous misdemeanors in Duplin, Wayne, and Harnett Counties, as well as, common law robbery in Wayne County in 2002, felony larceny and felony breaking and entering in Duplin County in 1999, and assault with a deadly weapon on a government official in Duplin County in 2003.       

     In North Carolina, voluntary manslaughter is the unlawful killing of another human being without malice.  Even if a defendant is exercising self-defense but uses excessive force in his defense, that is construed as voluntary manslaughter. 

     By this plea, the defendant will serve a minimum of 8 ½ years and a maximum of 11 years in the North Carolina Department of Correction. 

Lenoir County superior court cases of note scheduled for Monday’s trial session:

Terry Neil Graham, former Lenoir County probation officer charged with: - two felony counts of receiving bribes- three felony counts of obtaining property under a false pretense- three misdemeanors: willful failure to discharge duties (two counts) and obstructing justice

Back stories:

Story 1 Story 2

Story 3

Ricky Earl Potter, charged in 2003 for allegedly molesting three girls younger than 15 in 2001. He is charged with the following felonies: - two counts statutory rape- indecent liberties with a child - crime against nature - lewd and lascivious act

Back story:

Story

- two counts sex offense

- parental role

- two counts indecent liberties with a child

- two counts lewd and lascivious act

- first degree sexual offense

A man who allegedly attacked a Bright Street resident is in jail on $100,000 bond.

On Thursday, the Kinston Department of Public Safety arrested and charged Antonio L. Fields, 47, of 104 E. Shine St., with first degree burglary and assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill/inflict serious bodily injury.

The charges stem from an assault that occurred at 113 E. Bright St. Feb. 20 at 12:10 a.m.

According to the the victim, someone knocked on his door. When the victim opened the door, the suspect pushed his way inside and began striking him with a hammer in the head.

“According to the victim, he and Fields knew each other,” said Maj. Greg Thompson of the KDPS. “No motive for the attack has been established.

“Investigators questioned Fields but he was unresponsive.”

The victim was transported to the emergency room at Lenoir Memorial Hospital for treatment.

“The victim suffered several wounds to the head,” Thompson said. “He has been released from the hospital.”

Fields is currently being held on $100,000 dollars bond in the Lenoir County Jail.

Fields has previously been incarcerated for various felonies and misdemeanors, including possession of cocaine, possession of stolen goods, assault on a female, assault on a public official, breaking and entering and manslaughter.

To view Fields complete incarceration history, visit www.kinston.com.

8:11 p.m.:

The symposium is over, it ended with people applauding. Anyone who followed this live blog, thanks for tuning in! Good night from The Gate!! 

Questions:

 How effective are substations?

SRU officers are stationed in Mitchell Wooten Courts, lowers crime in immediate area, but difficult to expand

 Smith: “If I had an endless pot of money and an endless supply of officers . .”

Is dept. fully staffed?

Short six officers, standard for police departments, economy means deluge of applicants for fire and police slots.

ex: 30 applicants for one firefighter position.

“There is some good to the bad economy and we’re hiring away.”

One woman congragulates Smith on the Youth Protection Ordinance. She said officers cited her son when he was out in a car with his girlfriend.

“If you hadn’t come along, I might have been a grandmother,” she says.

Smith says parents can come and negotiate the citation and $25 fine for curfew violation.  

“The $25 isn’t important to me. What’s important to me is, mom and dad cares enough about the young person to come down and talk with me.”

7:51 p.m.:

We’re watching a video now on “Erasing the Lines,” a community program organized with youths involved at The Gate.

Chief Smith: “I think this speaks volumes about the good in Kinston; I think there’s plenty of it here.” 

7:39 p.m.:

You can get a wealth of information about crime in your community through www.crimereports.com, including stats, graphs, pie charts, maps, etc., specific to your section of the city. 

The Kinston PD updates it at around 3 p.m. most days.

Email crime tips to tips@ci.kinston.nc.us.

Chief Smith: “If you see it, if you know about it, send it in.”

“(Crimereports.com is) another way for us to be a little more transparent, and get a lot more information out there.”

7:30 p.m.:

We’re learning about Kinston’s gang issues now.

Sgt. Russell says there are 226 “validated” Kinston gang members belonging to at least five separate sets, including the Bloods and Crips.

But, of those 226, there are 59 currently in state, county and federal prison, leaving 164 known gangbangers on the city streets.

Russell gives his opinions on helping prevent the spread of gangs:

“Some of these young kids are salvageable; jail isn’t the answer.”

“It’s not what I believe, it’s not what you believe, it’s what they believe and they believe this is the right way.” 

7:14 pm: 

Chief Boyd said police issued 131 citations against local youths in 2008, many for violating the city curfew.

Of the youths cited for curfew violations, the majority were caught in areas where many teens hang out - Galaxy of Sports, Wal-Mart and the movie theatre.

Boyd says parents can contest the citation with Greg Smith.

“He will have an audience with you and decide if that citation stands.”

Smith took over the mike briefly:

“I don’t think the city of Kinston should be in the parenting business, but . . . we got into the parenting business.”

7:04 p.m.: Asst. Chief Annette Boyd is now talking about the Youth Protection Ordinance.

6:55 pm:

Maj. Greg Thompson, head of the investigations division, is making his presentation.

The 4-person investigations unit handles all felony incidents, from murders to property crimes.

Thompson is stressing that many crimes in his caseload are committed by “repeat offenders.”

The unit also handles sex crimes committed against adults and children - 15 forcible rapes on adults, 17 on children in 2008.

“I think the youngest sexual assault we’ve investigated is the age of two,” Thompson tells the audience, which gasps in disgust.

Thompson and Smith have displayed crime maps showing “hot spots” in the city over the past few years, the lowest in green, the highest in red. Each year, southeast Kinston has a large red spot over it.

6:45 p.m.:

Hi all,

OK, I’ve arrived here at the Gate and am set up for the Free Press’ latest live blog.

Public Safety Director Greg Smith has given the audience a brief rundown on how the department is implementing “intelligence and information-based policing.”

He has also shown crime stats for the past 5-10 years through 2008. Since 1999 crime overall has gone up to a peak in 2005 and then declined.

Smith attributes that, in part, to the creation of the Special Response Units, made up of 6-8 police officers and 6-8 firefighters who are cross-trained in both disciplines. The department now has an extra shift of officers who can respond to either a crime or a fire.

Hi folks, I’m Free Press Staff Writer David Anderson and I’ll be blogging live from the Kinston Department of Public Safety’s annual crime symposium tonight!

 The meeting begins at 6:30 p.m. at The Gate community center. See you then!

-David

I’m currently working on a story about people or businesses having aluminum coils (or copper, I guess) stolen from their A/C units. If any of you have had that happen to you, please give me a call at 559-1076. Thanks!

Powell pleads guilty
Victim: ‘I’m just happy it’s over with’

Text messages and touching that were “sexual in nature” formed the factual basis for former Kinston High School assistant basketball coach Larry Powell’s plea agreement Monday.
Powell pleaded guilty to two misdemeanors — cyberstalking and assault on a female — and, in exchange, the state dropped a misdemeanor sexual battery charge in Lenoir County Superior Court.
Assistant District Attorney Michael Muskus presented what the prosecution and the victim, a 17-year-old girl, allege happened.
The prosecution said the victim and Powell had talked briefly about her involvement in the International Baccalaureate program at Kinston High School. Among other things, the program stresses community involvement and academic discipline. As a part of that, the victim began doing community service for the Kinston/Lenoir Recreation Department, where the defendant was employed part time.
Muskus, reading from the teenager’s statement to police, said the victim received text messages that were “sexual in nature” from Powell, as well as phone calls demanding to know where she was while she was on vacation.
On July 7, 2007, Powell, 48, invited the victim to help him move out of his old apartment and into a new one, telling her other people would be there. She agreed.
Once she arrived and saw that Powell was alone, she asked where everyone else was. Powell told her she was early and everyone else would be arriving later.
The victim sat on a couch with Powell, leaning off to the side a bit. Powell saw a tattoo on her lower back. He put his hand on her back, near the waistband of her pants.
“He told me he didn’t know I was one of those,” Muskus said the victim told police.
She told Powell not to touch her and moved away, but Powell slid closer again. Eventually, he got up and asked her if she wanted to see his bedroom. She said no.
The victim said she wanted to leave and Powell told her she couldn’t and locked the door. He brushed up against and then went and lay down on his bed.
The victim said her mom was calling her on her cell phone, and she really needed to leave.
Powell told her she could go, but not before giving him a hug. So he “pulled her close” and kissed her, Muskus said.
The victim told police she then went to her car and cried.
After that, the victim said in her statement to police, Powell would text her, bump into her in the halls and try to pull her out of class at school.
“He once told me he wanted more than a kiss,” she told the detective investigating her case.
On Feb. 20, the victim told officers she answered a call from a restricted number, thinking it was her godmother. It was Powell. She later told a teacher she was too afraid to hang up, according to her statement.
Muskus said when the case came up in Lenoir County District Court, Powell testified the victim did come into his apartment, after telling law enforcement officers in earlier statements that they had stood in the doorway because her being at his apartment made him “uncomfortable.” He also admitted to kissing the victim, though he said it wasn’t on purpose.
“He accidentally touched her check with his lips when he reached over her to unlock the door,” Muskus said.
Powell’s attorney, Dal Wooten, of Wooten & Strickland, said his client has had an “exemplary record,” with 27 years at the recreation department.
He showed the judge letters from parents showing their support for Powell.
Wooten said Powell no longer works for the recreation department or Kinston High School; instead, he now works at a restaurant.
“He’s lost everything,” Wooten said.
The victim, for her part, said a few words before New Hanover Superior Court Judge Phyllis Gorham decided on Powell’s sentence.
She said everything she told police was the truth, but her peers accused her of lying and bullied her.
“I had to relocate schools,” she said. “ …People would terrorize me, saying it wasn’t true and I was lying.”
She said the school she transferred to doesn’t have the IB program and it has cost her a chance to get into a better college.
“I’ll have to settle for less than because of something that I went through that wasn’t even my fault,” she said.
Powell, for his part, had no comment to give to the court.
Gorham sentenced Powell separately for each count. For the first charge, misdemeanor assault on a female, Powell received a sentence of 60 days in the custody of the state Department of Correction, which was suspended to 12 months of supervised probation and a $100 fine. He received a suspended sentence for the charge of cyberstalking as well.
Powell also had special conditions placed on his probation, including not having any contact with his victim.
“Wherever she is, he is not to have contact in any way, shape or form,” Gorham said.
The judge said that includes school grounds and competition areas. The victim is active in tennis and cheerleading.
After Powell was sentenced, the victim said she was glad to have everything behind her.
“I feel good now because the truth is finally out,” she said. “I’m glad he finally admitted what he did was wrong.”
Wooten quickly ushered Powell out of the courtroom after his sentenced was pronounced; however, Powell did give The Free Press a short statement Monday.
“I have no comment right now about this, but I’ll have one later,” an emotional Powell told The Free Press. “It’s been a really emotional and frustrating day.”
A mid-afternoon call to Wooten was not returned Monday.
Muskus said Monday afternoon that he was pleased with the sentences imposed on Powell.
“We’re happy with the court’s judgment,” he said.
Kinston/Lenoir Recreation Department Director Bill Ellis said early Monday afternoon he didn’t know if he’d rehire Powell.
“I hadn’t gotten that far yet,” he said.
Ellis described Powell’s position with the recreation department as a temporary summer position.
“The summer ended, so his job ended,” he said.
Lidia R. Guzman, public information office for Lenoir County Public Schools, said Powell was a graduation coach at KHS, which means he helped keep them on track to finish high school.
She said he resigned from his position and his rehiring — and any other information — was a personnel matter and she couldn’t discuss it further.
Still, the teenage girl at the heart of the case said none of that mattered.
“I’m just happy it’s over with and it’s done,” she said.

Here’s what a few people involved in the case had to say when it was all over:

* The victim: “I had to relocate schools. … People would terrorize me, saying it wasn’t true and I was lying.”

* Powell: “I just have no comment.”

* Kinston/Lenoir Parks and Recreation Director Bill Ellis on re-hiring Powell: “I hadn’t gotten that far yet.”

* ADA Michael Muskus: “We’re happy with the court’s judgment.”

* Lidia R. Guzman, spokeswoman for Lenoir County Public Schools: His re-hiring is a personnel matter that cannot be discussed.

*Dal Wooten, Powell’s attorney: Did not return calls Monday seeking comment. However, he said in court that his client “has lost everything.”

Former KHS assistant basketball coach Larry Powell (no relation to former Free Press-er Larry Powell) pleaded guilty today to cyberstalking and assault on a female, both misdemeanors. His victim, 17-year-old Keotta Williams said after the trial said she felt good about the result. “The truth is finally out,” she said.

More will follow.

The police sure have been busy lately, cracking down on drugs and dealing. Here’s the latest from the KDPS PIO:

From the Kinston Department of Public Safety

On Friday, September 19th, 2008 Kinston Department of Public Safety
Narcotics Unit arrested Jason Christopher Crockett for Maintaining a
Dwelling and Manufacturing Marijuana. The arrest came after complaints
of the suspect selling drugs from his residence located at 906 Cleveland
Dr., Kinston NC. Narcotics Officers went to the home of Jason Crockett
and located a marijuana growing operation in the attic. The attic
contained all the needed equipment to produce up to 100 marijuana
plants. The suspect was placed in Lenoir County Jail under a $6,000
dollar bond.

SUSPECT: Jason Christopher Crockett (see attached photo)
W/M, 27 yoa
Address : 906 Cleveland Dr., Kinston NC

CHARGES : Maintaining a Dwelling for the sale of Controlled Substances
(1ct)
Manufacturing Marijuana (1ct)