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MURDER SUSPECT NOW BEHIND BARS
BY PETER WILLIAMS
News Editor
After nearly four years
on the run, a 24-year-old
man has been arrested for a
2012 murder in Perquimans
County.
Ramel Samuel has been
charged with the shoot
ing death of Tre Brothers
by the Perquimans County
Sheriffs Office. Brothers,
who was 19 at the time, was
killed by a 12-gauge shotgun
blast to the face at a home
on Albemarle Road. Samuel
is being held in Albemarle
District Jail without bond.
Perquimans Sheriff Eric
Tilley said the dispute start
ed over stolen property.
“Instead of calling law
enforcement to handle the
SAMUEL
enforcement.
issue, they
took it into
their own
hands, ”
Tilley said
Monday.
Until
last week
Samuel
had eluded
local law
Tilley said Samuel was ar ¬
rested several months ago
in Albany, N.Y. after a traf
fic stop involving a stolen
car. New York lawmen held
Samuel because he was be
ing sought by Perquimans
officials but Samuel fought
extradition.
When he was arrested
Samuel’s address was listed
as Townsend Avenue in
New York City. The address
is a six-story building in the
Bronx..
A second suspect in the
murder case, Yanaula Stra-
tikis, 27, had been charged
with murder in the same
case, but was released from
jail. Tilley said those charg
es will be reinstated but
when is up to the District
Attorney.
District Attorney An ¬
drew Womble could not be
reached for comment.
Tilley said Stratikis is still
living in the area
The next regular session
of Superior Court isn’t un
til April, but Tilley said an
administrative court date is
planned for Feb. 25. It’s pos
sible that Samuel will make
See MURDER, 3
Food
stamp
changes
coming
BY PETER WILLIAMS
News Editor
Dozens of Perquimans
County residents stand to
lose their food stamp ben
efits after July unless they
work 20 hours a week or
spend an equal amount
volunteering or going to
school.
Susan Chaney, the direc
tor of Social Services for
the county is in the process
of narrowing down and no
tifying the specific people
affected.
Perquimans has been op
erating under a waiver of
the Personal Responsibil
ity and Work Opportunity
Reconciliation Act of 1996.
The county was originally
granted a waiver because
of the lack of jobs available.
When the Recession hit in
2008, every North Carolina
county got a waiver.
But last year the General
Assembly passed a law that
lifted the waivers for the 23
urban counties as of Jan. 1.
The remaining 77 counties,
including Perquimans, will
lose the waiver after July 1.
The July 1 change for 77
counties was included in
unrelated legislation that
• passed the legislature in
September.
“We have a potential of
214 that could be effected,
and 166 of those are cur-
■ rently employed - they are
earning money,” Chaney
said. “We know 166 are
working, we just don’t know
how many hours. We’ve got
a lot of work to do.”
If the 166 are working an
average of 20 hours a week
or 80 hours a month, they
will continue to be eligible
for SNAP benefits. Chaney’s
office is in the process now
of finding out the details of
who may or may not be im
pacted.
For the other 48 people,
• they will have to find work,
enroll in school or volun
teer to keep their benefits.
Chaney said it could be a
mix of all three provided
See FOOD STAMPS, 3
A LITTLE GLANCE
Voting
advocate
to speak
Friday
BY PETER WILLIAMS
News Editor
A voter education advo
cate for the N.C. State Board
of Elections will be in Hert
ford Feb. 19-20 to spread a
message
about g
changes ’
in voting
laws.
Having
a photo
ID stream-
lines the
process,
STAFF PHOTO BY PETER WILLIAMS
Sgt. First Class Anthony Kent addresses students this week during training at Perquimans County High
School.
Students get taste of military life
BY PETER WILLIAMS
'■ . News Editor
(This is the first of two stories
on new programs at Perquimans
County High School).
erquimans County High
School now has something
to offer students who want
the Junior-ROTC experience
without being part of a sanc
tioned Reserve Officer Training
Corps program.
The Perquimans County
School Board has considered
the idea of starting a J-ROTC
program, but there are costs
involved. Also students would
have to express an interest in
sufficient numbers, and the mili
tary branch, like the Army or Air
Force, has to sign off on helping
fund it.
Sgt. 1st Class Anthony Kent
is bypassing some of that with
his Structured Self Development
(SSD) program. He’s volunteer
ing during his off hours as a
. recruiter for the Army National
Guard in Elizabeth City.
“First let me say there is no
connection to the National
Guard, the Army or the ROTC
program,” Kent said. “It’s in all
sense built like a J-ROTC, but it’s
not a sanctioned J-ROTC.”
Kent is an 18-year veteran of
the Guard.
“Part of my job as aNCO
(non-commissioned officer) is to
guide and mentor my soldiers.
This is what I’m doing here,
without the aggression skills. It’s
all about leadership.”
At a training session this
week, Kent could be seen to
wince when he watched a stu
dent try to perform the footwork
involved in a close order drill.
But then he was quick to point
out the program is brand new.
“This kid,” he said pointing to
one student, “he’s been with us
one week. This one two weeks,
that one three weeks,” Kent said.
The program meets weekly, not
daily.
See TRAINING, 3
but not having one doesn’t
mean a person can’t vote.
Voters will have to be
registered, but the lack of
a photo ID alone won’t stop
them from voting, said Lee
Cooley.
“Nobody is going to be
turned away,” Cooley said.
“No one can be turned away.
Our goal is they can use a
provisional ballot and that
ballot is validated if some
body is eligible to vote.”
There have been changes
in the state’s voting laws.
The new rules aren’t quite
as strict as the first changes
which required only a photo
ID to confirm a voter is who
they say they are.
Cooley has been criss-
crossing the state to spread
news about what the new
state law does and doesn’t
do. On Feb. 16 she’ll be
speaking in Mecklenburg
County, and the following
day she will be in Wake
County.
Cooley will be speaking
Feb. 19 from 6 p.m. until 8
p.m. at the Perquimans Coun
ty Board of Elections office
on Edenton Road Street,
On Feb. 20, there will be
a screening of the movie
“Selma” starting at 10 am.
in the Perquimans County
High School auditorium and
Cooley will be speaking af
ter the movie, about noon.
Voters can claim a decla
ration of reasonable impedi
ment if they are unable to get
an acceptable photo ID and
be able to vote a provisional
See SPEAKER, 3
Work completed on new home for tornado victim
BY REGGIE PONDER
Chowan Herald
Volunteers, families and
friends came together Sat
urday afternoon to give
thanks for David and Mamie
Parker’s new home and ask
God’s blessings on it.
“Isn’t this a beautiful
house, y’all?” the Rev. Cliff
Harvell asked those who
had gathered inside the new
house on Chapanoke Road
for the house blessing cer
emony.
“Yes it is,” the group re
sponded.
The Parkers’ previous
house was destroyed by a
tornado that swept through
Chapanoke on April 25,
2014. Volunteers from the
United Methodist Church,
AME Zion Church, Society
of Friends and other Chris
tian churches came together
to build the Parkers a new
house.
Tire work was coordinat
ed through the Disaster Re ¬
sponse Office of the United
Methodist Church’s N.C.
Conference. Harvell heads
that effort, and the group’s
tornado response in Chow
an, Perquimans and Pasquo
tank counties has been led
by Stephanie Hunt.
When Hunt left to take
a position with Habitat for
Humanity in another loca
tion, the Rev. Frederick
Hunter, pastor of Mary Hol
ly Grove AME Zion Church,
took over the task of leading
volunteers in finishing the
Parkers’ house.
The Disaster Response
Office last year finished
building a new home for
Leonidas Parker, who is Da
vid Parker’s uncle.
Leonidas Parker told
the crowd Satuday he was
blessed to have gotten help
from the volunteers.
“I never have had so
many friends,” he said.
Hunt said she was grate
ful for the “privilege” of
“being able to assist some
of my favorite people in get
ting back home.”
Hunter led a prayer to
open the ceremony.
Harvell said the new
See HOME, 3
REGGIE
PONDER/
CHOWAN
HERALD
Mamie
Parker
speaks
to the
crowd at
the house
blessing
ceremony
as her
husband,
David,
stands by
her side on
Saturday.