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
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Winston-Salem, N.C.
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-WJPIABIJEt- "economic
power canba parlayed Info
political power. Tin reverse
la rarely the eaee.The (N.C.
Black) Cauoua hat several
challengaa before M. ~.H
MQCA4
Y ' ' ' ? ' ' '
terness aft
the death penalty," he said?
There were two black women
on the jury.
The women, Bryson said,
were probably thinking, "that
could have been me."
Sheriffs deputies at the
courthouse would not allow a
Chronicle reporter to interview
the two women.
Bryson said that he is
pleased with the district
attorney's office handling of the
case. "I think they did a good
job with presenting the evidence
they had," he said.
In an interview Tuesday
before the jury had reached a
decision, Bryson talked about
the trial and the effect it has had
on him and his family.
"I've been over there all
week," he said. "It's been a
trying kind of experience to sit
there and see this guy
* Glenn's
Size isn't <
mi
mCh
Thursday, August 6,19
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i i /aim^UI i -AMTIWK
?Leadershi
By CHERYL WILLIAMS
Chronicle Staff Writer
<? ? _
Eleven African-Americans are
among 42 people picked to
participate in the fourth
Leadership Winston-Salem class.
"We have selected 29 males and
13 females representing a broad
cross-section of community leaders
consistent with our mission to bring
about communication among
established leaders," Kenneth O.
Raschke, presidentof ^^adershipWinston-Salem,
said in a news
statement.
Leadership Winston-Salem,
started in 1984, brings together 35
to 40 community leaders of varying
backgrounds for nine months to
er verdict
(Drayton). I had no doubt of his
involvement He seems to know
too much about the house. But
the extent of his involvement,
we may never know."
Drayton has maintained
that he did not act alone and in
several statements he has named
accomplices. During testimony
at his sentencing hearing Friday,
ho rrouo nn/vtk<ta
Iiv ga?v Oiiuuit! atcuuill UI uie
murder and the name of the
person he says helped him.
Bryson said that he also
believes that Drayton had help
murdering his mother.
"I think there has to be at
least one other person
involved," he said. "Drayton
gave them a name. But 1 don't
know, With him you have to
determine what's fact and what's
~~fiction. In my opinion he has
some serious mental problems."
Bryson said that one thing
m mm
Harris: Mari
everything com
PAGE B1
\ronic
(7 50 cents
Vote delayed
Citizens <
impact si
By MARDELL GRIFFIN
Chronicle Staff Writer
Citing concern for the effect of
the city's proposed thorgiughfarc
plan on the Shalimar neighborhood,
Reynolds Park .Recreation Center,
Salem Lake and Reynolds Park
Golf Course, as well as other
Winston-Salem communities,
Southeast Ward Alderman Larry W.
Womble won Board of Aldermen
approval to delay vote on the plan
for two weeks.
The decision on the
comprehensive development plan
for the city was likewise postponed
during Monday nights board
meeting in a move made by East
Ward Alderman Virginia K. Newell.
Citizens groups citywide
lobbied extensively in past weeks
to influence aldermen to carry out
an environmental impact study
before setting routes for roadsincluded
in the thoroughfare plan.
T"*i a _
mey now nave until tne next
regularly scheduled aldermen's
meeting on Aug. 17 to continue
their efforts. ;
Friends of Salem Lake and
"others in the .immediate
community" delivered a document
to Womble with 1,005 signatures of
:ans included
ip^W-S^sele
examine issues concerning
Winston-Salem and Forsyth
County.
The program is for people who
have already established
themselves as leaders in the
community. It will not, according to
a brochure describing the program,
train people to be leaders.
African-American members of
the 1987-88 class are:
Geneva B. Brown, principal,
Moore Alternative School
ich ae1~Ar~GTace r~attotney;?
Greeson, Page and Grace
Norman E. Joyner, executive
director, Winston Lake Family
YMCA
Willie M. Kennedy,
attorney/registered nurse
Jeffrey Bryson and his grandmott
Merritt Drayton's Life sentence ver
that leads him to believe that
Drayton didn't act alone is that
his mother's television which
had been in the den had been
moved to the hallway. "It's a
relatively large television," he
?1,
a Howell
tes home .
PAGEM
/It;
50 Pages This Week
demand
tudy first
residents opposed to the suggested
route for the 311 Connector,
Womble said. And representatives
of the Friends of Salem Lake have
attended all the public hearings
held~onihe thoroughfare plan, met
with planning staff and held
neighborhood meetings to discuss
the outline for the city's future __
roadways. * "
The connector would link
existing 1-40 with the new portion
of 1-40 by slicing through the
backyards of houses on the eastern
side of the Shalimar community
and cutting through a greenway
previously approved by the board
and already under construction
between the Marketplace and
Salem Lake, the Southeast Ward
alderman said.
Nearly half the members of the
audience in the packed aldermen's
chambers rose Monday night when
Womble asked members of the
Salem Lake group to stand. He
attributed people in the
organization with instigating a
change in route during the planning
ot existing 1-40 that swung the rood
further south from a path through
what is now Marketplace Main >
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