I Piney Grove: I $5 years of progr< I -^jst page Bl VWi I vol. xir, no. so I Cover Story SBI probes te By The Associated Press p li WINSTON-SALEM _ The State b Bureau of Investigation has been j, called in to investigate the death of tj a Forsyth County teen-ager whose patents say they don't believe their f( son committed suicide. b Larry and Katherine McGee, who . v live just outside Winston-Salem, Say their son had always been very ( careful around firearms and was s anything but suicidal. h Their questions _ and pressure _ c led to the SBI investigation, whichm v officially came at the request of the Forsyth County District Attorney's v office. i "We know our son did not shoot himself, either accidentally or c other wise," Larry McGee told the { Greensboro News & Record.. s \Mn my opinion, someone ? intentionally shot him," McGee \ saidto exit. Yet he added: "I don't know of any motive for murder or \ why anyone would want to kill 2 Lanny. Lanny never hurt a soul in his life." * Lanny McGee, 16, died, about 4:15 p.m. April 14 at his home in eastern Forsyth County. Present wet? two classmates _ a lf^year- < old boy and a 15-year-old girl. McGee was found with a bullet \ hole between Iris eyes. The weapon, a ,22-caliber pistol, had been Victim criticizc over plea bar By CHERYL WILLIAMS Chronicle Staff Writer Walter 1. Jones says he's a dou system. * Jones, the victim in a March 30 robt that he's not satisfied with the district "Walter I.Jones Bryson far By CHERYL WILLIAMS Chronicle Staff Writer Sitting in his Third Street law office on Tuesday afternoon, Jeffrey T. Bryson showed no signs of bitterness as he said that he would be satisfied if the convicted killer of his mother received either a life sentence or the death penalty. Several hours later, a jury of 10 women and two men, after deliberating! 1 hours and 13 minutes recommended that Merritt W. Drayton be sentenced to life imprisonment. Last ~~ Ttrorsday the jury found Drayton, 29, guilty of firstdegree murder in the death of Blanche Bryson. Mrs. Bryson, 65, was found strangled to death in her home at 2705 Gilmer Ave. on Dec. 10. She was a retired cafeteria "v.-:. s . Night boxii sss Not a shot in 10 iston U.S.P.S. No. 067910 I sen's suicide ressed against his forehead, a tile off center toward the left eye row. One shot had been fired. fivestigators told McGee s father lat the gun had been fully loaded. When police arrived, the gun was ound in a drawer and McGee's ody had been moved from the spot /here he was shot. Sixteen weeks later, Forsyth "ounty Sheriff detectives say they till don't know exactly what lappened, and the investigation ontinucs. No one has been charged vith a crime. Both of the youngsters who were vith McGee have told police that rfcGee shot himself. But Larry McGee says too many luestions remain unanswered to let he matter rest, including why did lomeone put the gun in a drawer md why was the body moved xfore the police arrived. Larry McGee said detectives told lim that the two teen-agers idmitted moving Lanny's body ifter he was shot, but said they did >o to allow rescue workers more oom to work. The detectives have lot offered any explanation about why the gun was moved, McGee saidu - -. . . - McGee also said investigators told him that no fingerprints were _ _ m. * ^ riease see rage ah ' | ;s D.A. gain issue e> >cry, said in an interview Monday t attorney s office's handling of a case where an assistant district U accepted a reduced plea for the int displeased with the way the whole went," he said. "The DA was ed to be representing us. But it ! as if they were there representing minal. A~criminal"robs you and i victim. Then the DA's office robs lin." les, an employee of the Ramada >n High Street, said that he was I by a man with a gun while Please see page A14 I nily: No bit manager with the city/county - school system. Bryson, who discovered his mother's body that December day, has been keeping a constant watch at the courthouse along with his older brother, William of Cleveland and his 86-yearold grandmother, Frances Williams. Reacting to the jury's decision, Bryson said that he was not upset that the outcome wasn't the death penalty. "It's not going to bring anybody back (to life)," he said. Bryson, however said that he favors the death penalty because "it serves as a deterrent/ He also has his own ,opinion as to why the jury deliberated so lonff "I'm willing to bet that at least one of the those black jurors held out for 1 ig: ^jjF'" ~ the dark *?4 PAGEB2 L| * JLj -Sa7e 77ie 7\v/>? City's A war Winston-Salem, N.C. r^MM ri ^ bkm "- -' a^ ..ZMS9 ?h bf '; v' 't??*|^h ?. A ^?!>? i i /aim^UI i -AMTIWK ?Leadershi By CHERYL WILLIAMS Chronicle Staff Writer Please see Page A11 cts class Lee Faye Mack, counselor, Winston-Salem Urban League The Rev. John Mendez, Emmanuel Baptist Church Earline W. Parmon, executive director, Learning Is Fun Too Hellena H. Tidwell, director of development, Arts Council Waller S. Tucker, executive vice president, Mechanics and Fanners Bank Janet P. Wheeler, manager, research and development, R.J*. -Reynolds Tobacco Co?? Haywood L. Wilson Jr., vice chancellor for student affairs, Winston-Salem State University Raschke said that the program has progressed a lot since its Please see page A 12 I If*- ' jb , jjljjm I A ft J f JKBhIh ler, Frances Williams, discuss diet (photo by James Parker). said. "Also looking at Drayton and his size, I don't see him able to subdue my mother by himself. She was not a small person." Please see page A13 i