Vol. IXX, No. 10 Published in historic Edenton... The South's prettiest torn. Single Copies 50$ J
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Chapter 9 of
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Two Edenton men now face charges in shooting
BY BEN DECK
Cox NC Publications
Two Chowan County men
wanted in connection with a
deadly Feb. 22 shooting in
Elizabeth City have been
charged with assault, Pasquo
tank Sheriff Randy Cart
wright said.'
The men, both from Ed
enton, were involved in a
shootout on Terry Street in the
early morning hours of Feb.
22. They talked with sheriff’s
deputies about the incident
immediately afterward, but
have since dropped out of
sight, Cartwright said.
“We know they’re hiding
from us,” Cartwright said.
The warrants charge Troy
Gilliam and Darrell Boyce
with assault with a deadly
weapon with intent to kill or
cause serious injury Both men
are 26.
Gilliam’s last known address
is 106 Holly Grove Road,
Edenton and Boyce’s last
known address is 201 Vance St.,
Edenton.
Cartwright previously said
sheriff’s deputies were seek
ing to talk to the men as. wit
nesses, but authorities decided
to take out the arrest warrants
when the men did not come for
ward. The warrants have been
listed on a statewide computer
network that police monitor in
the hope that the men will be
found and taken into custody,
Cartwright said.
Gilliam and Boyce were
riding in a white Pontiac
Grand Prix with another
Edenton resident, 21-year-old
LePaul Wills, when the car
pulled into a driveway at 607
Terry Street early Saturday
morning, Cartwright said.
The Pontiac was following
another car at the time, and
a shootout between the occu
pants of the Pontiac and the
other vehicle left Wills dead
and another person wound
ed.
On one side of the gunfight
is 22-year-old Brian Bowe of
Elizabeth City, his girlfriend
Charisse Harney and her
brother, Gene Harney of
Bronx, New York. The three
were in Charisse Harney’s
car - the vehicle the Pontiac
was following - and were re
turning from a nightclub to
Terry Street, where she lives
with her parents, Cartwright
said.
Bowe and the Harneys say
they saw the Grand Prix fol
lowing them and saw it pull
into the driveway, Cart
wright said. Thinking the
people in the Grand Prix
were acquaintances, they got
out and walked toward the
car, but the occupants of the
Grand Prix got out as well,
and - according to the Bowe
and the Harneys - opened fire
after saying only .a few words.
Bowe was hit once in the leg.
Gilliam and Boyce told a
different story when they
talked with sheriff’s depu
ties immediately after the
shooting. The men said they
were lost, decided to ask
Bowe and the Harneys for
directions and were shot at
for their trouble, Cartwright
said.
Both groups told deputies
that only the other side had
guns, and everyone involved
said the two groups are
strangers to each other.
Deputies administered
polygraph tests to both
Harneys, who are sticking to
their story, Cartwright said.
Cartwright asked anyone
with information about the
Edenton men’s whereabouts
to call the sheriff’s office at
338-2191 or the Crime Line at
335-5555. Crime Line offers
rewards of up to $2,000 for in
formation which provides a
break in a case.
'ficials dealing
with threats
Edenton-Chowan Schools
had a quiet day Friday, con
tradicting rumors of poten
tial violence.
“There were no bomb
threats, no incidents, no
fights, nothing like that,” said
John A. Holmes High School
principal John Williams.
The rumors were deemed
by law enforcement and
school officials to lack cred
ibility early in the day, but
extra officers were on duty at
each of the schools to help
ensure a safe, calm and or
derly school day.
Central Office staff met
with the town and county
managers, the high school
principal, the sheriff and the
chief of police at the end of
the school day to discuss how
the rumors started, how best
to contain false rumors in the
future, and what to expect for
the school system on Monday.
Officials decided to keep a
heightened law enforcement
presence at the schools as
long as necessary.
Monday proved to be an
other quiet day in Edenton
Chowan Schools, with no in
See THREATS On Page 3-A
Town pledges all its resources to
fight gun violence in community
Citizens are
asked to help
authorities
BY REBECCA BUNCH
' Editor
Town of Edenton officials
have announced several new
initiatives in response to the
most recent shootings to take
place in the community. Town
Manager Anne-Marie Knight
on announced Monday that,
effective immediately all po
- ■ .
if X
Anne-Marie Knighton
lice officers’ number one pri
ority is to focus on and patrol
areas where recent shootings
have occurred.
Chief Greg Bonner
Knighton also appealed to
the public for help in identify
ing people who are in posses
sion of illegal handguns and
i
other weapons.
“We implore the public to
call us if they know of a per
son, be it a relative or acquain
tance, that has a gun or wea
pon without a proper permit,”
she said.
Police Chief Greg Bonner
said that while officers have
continued to arrest those re
sponsible for the shootings, the
problem has not stopped. Easy
access to illegal weapons has
continued to fuel the problem.
“We need for citizens to step up
and tell us who has these weap
ons,” he said. “We promise we
See GUNS On Page 3-A
Neighbor to neighbor effort way to say we care
BY,BILL HALEY
Special Correspondent
Edenton United Methodist
Church and Providence Bap
tist Church are combining to
provide the volunteer labor
in essential home improve
ments for needy, elderly resi;
dents of Edenton. The mate
rials are provided by the
Marion Edwards Recover}
Center (MERCI) of Golds
boro, NC in what is called the
Neighbor to Neighbor pro
gram.
The first project began Feb
26, the digging of footings foi
a sit-in shower/bathroom ex
tension at the home of Mrs
Johnnie Bell Sessoms on V\
Freemason Street. Pastor!
and laypersons of botl
churches will provide the la
bor. Coordinating the projec
are Mr. Wille Boone, a deacoi
of Providence Church, Re\
Clinton Walker of Provi
dence Church and Rev. Jin
I (Left photo) Participants in the newly formed Neighbor to Neighbor project are Charlie Beasley, Carl Jennings, Willie Boone, Rev. Jim Huskins,
pastor of the Edenton United Methodist Church, J.B. Small Jr. and the Rev. Clinton Walker, associate pastor of Providence Baptist Church; (photo at
t right) Mrs. Johnnie Belle Sessoms, homeowner, talks with Rev. Jim Huskins, Rev. Walker, and Mr. Willie Boone, deacon. Providence Baptist Church.
. Huskins of Edenton United
- Methodist Church, which is
1 the sponsor for the Neighbor
to Neighbor program in
Edenton.
Other neighbor to neigh
bor projects may be recom
mended by clergy in Edenton
for their elderly members
and approved by the Board of
MERCI.
MERCI is named for the
Bishop ot the NC conference
of the United Methodist •
Church, Marion Edwards.
Commissioners pleased with plan
BY REBECCA BUNCH
Editor
; Chowan County Commis
sioners pronounced them
selves very pleased with the
facility master plan presented
by College of the Albemarle
representatives during the
commissioners’ Monday mor
ning meeting.
In presenting the plan which
would be another step toward
the goal of taking the COA
- Chowan Center to the status of
a full-fledged college campus,
Interim COA President Lynne
Bunch said plans were being
laid in phases and a careful eye
was being kept on expenses, a
move deemed particularly pru
dent because of the state’s con
tinuing budget woes.
Bunch explained that in
preparation for the expansion,
which would move the COA
Chowan campus from its cur
rent location at a local shop
ping center to the old D.F.
Walker campus in Edenton,
two studies have recently been
completed. The two studies
were a long-range facility plan
designed to determine current
and long-term facility space
needs, and an architecture
study designed to provide a vi
sion for converting the former
Walker School into a college
campus.
Bunch said that much input
from students has been sought
and received, and that.it too
has proven very helpful. She
said that one of their major
concerns appears to be cen
tered around COA Chowan’s
current location where loiter
ing by people who are not stu
dents continues to be a prob
lem. They would like, she said,
a location that could provide a
true college campus atmo
sphere.
She said a large part of ini
tial efforts in converting the
site to a college campus would
involve using $904,000 in exist
ing grant funds to accomplish
just that.
“The first thing we want to do
is to convert the outside of the
Walker site to make it look like
a college campus,” she said.
These steps are expected to in
clude landscaping and the addi
tion of some fencing. COA’s
Board of Trustees is expected
to vote March 10 on the plans for
the Edenton site, which they
were briefed on during their
February meeting.
Phase I would also cover en
hanced parking and outdoor
lighting, as well as the start ol
building renovations.
BY REBECCA BUNCH
Editor
Chad Sary, director of the
Edenton-Chowan Planning
and Inspections Department,
is hoping for a large turnout
and lots of helpful input from
local citizens during a com
munity open forum sched
uled for next Wednesday,
March 12, from 5:30 p.m. until
7 p.m.
The forum, scheduled to al
low the public an opportu
nity to have its say on the de
velopment of the Edenton
Chowan County Greenway
and Open Space Plan, will
take place at the old D.F.
Walker School building in
Edenton.
Greenways Incorporated
will join County staff in fa
cilitating the meeting, anjj
everyone is welcome and en
' ' * % :V. 'VV- M ■ ' ■ V::'
See FORUM On Page 3-^
REVIVAL - EDENTON BAPTIST CHURCH
DR. KENNETH MASSEY
PASTOR OF FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH,
GREENSBORO, NC_
BEGINNING WITH 11 A.M.
WORSHIP AND CONTINUING
EACH EVENING AT 7 O’CLOCK
200 SOUTH GRANVILLE STREET
MARCH 9TH - 12TH
SPECIAL MUSIC EACH SERVICE[
Mmmsm
NURSERY PROVIDED FOR INFANTS THROUGH TURF I