?arrentonKe-n. Library X
-17 S.Main St.
*arrenton, N.C. 27589
Uarren Eecurii j
Volume 94 25c Per Copy Warrenton, County Of Warren, North Carolina Wednesday, October 11, 1%- Number 4'
Four Charged In Connection With Hit-And-Run Death Near Norlina
By DIANE DAVIS
Staff Writer
Four men have been charged in con
nection with a hit-and-run accident
which occurred early Sunday morning
and resulted in the death of a Norlina
man.
Trooper A. M. Bennett of the N. C.
Highway Patrol said Tuesday that
Thomas Earl Shearin, 26, of Rt. 2,
Norlina, was charged with felonious hit
and-run driving, manslaughter, no
operator's license and failure to reduce
speed to avoid an accident after a two
day investigation by the Highway
Patrol, the State Bureau of Investigation
and the Warren County Sheriff's Depart
ment into the 4 a.m. Sunday death of
Herman Leroy Vaughan, 46, of Rt. 1,
Noriina.
Shearin is being held in the Warren
County Jail under a $10,000 bond. A
hearing will be held today (Wednesday)
in Warren County District Court.
A report by Bennett indicates that
Vaughan had been walking north in
the southbound lane of Walker Avenue
(SR 1229) near the Roseland nightclub
just north of the Noriina town limits
when he was struck by a southbound
vehicle traveling at an estimated speed
of 40 mph. He was thrown into the ditch,
and Bennett said Vaughan died
instantly.
Deputy W. T. Winston of the Warren
County Sheriff's Department was on du
ty at the time of the accident. He
reported that four persons traveling in
a dark green Ford Maverick told him
there had been a hu-and-run accident on
SR 1229 (Heaven Street). He was also
told that Vaughan was struck by a light
colored van.
Upon arrival at the scene, Winston
found Vaughan's body lying across the
ditch, and he then called for assistance.
Bennett reported that after the colli
sion, Shearin drove the Ford to
Roseland and parked it. He and a
passenger in the vehicle, Timothy Jig
getts, walked to where Vaughan's body
was in the ditch, observed the body and
then returned to the vehicle and left the
scene.
Trooper Bennett reported that di rk
jolored paint fragments were found on
the victim's body.
He also reported that on Monday
morning, an anonymous phone call was
received concerning a vehicle on SR
1232 (Bob White Road) which was
reported to have been involved in the
accident.
After an investigation, the car, a 1970
Ford Maverick, was determined to be
the car which struck Vaughan. The
automobile's front bumper and fender
had been repainted in a color that didn't
match the vehicle's other paint, Bennett
said.
The discovery of the vehicle led to the
arrest of its owner, Thomas Shearin, at
1:30 a.m. Tuesday. In addition, Clarence
Anthony Shearin, 18, of Rt. 2, Norlina,
was charged with accessory after the
fact to a felony after he allegedly said
he had driven the car. He had initially
been jailed under a $5,000 bond after ad
mitting to being the driver of the Ford
when Vaughan was struck. On Monday,
he was charged with hit-and-run,
manslaughter and failure to reduce
speed. Although Thomas Shearin was
determined to have been the driver of
the Ford at the time of the accident,
those charges against Clarence Shearin
will have to be dropped in District Court,
Bennett said.
(Continued on page 4B)
Farm Animal
Deaths Probed;
Bulldogs Blamed
Death of farm animals, be
lieved to be caused by a pit bull,
continues to be investigated this
week by the Warren County
Sheriff's Department.
Thomas Tucker on Oct. 8 re
ported that five 50-pound pigs had
been injured by dogs at his
Seaman Road (SR 1234) farm.
The injuries were discovered by
Tucker when he had come to feed
the animals. In the pen with his
stock were also a brown-and
white pit bull and two other
brown-and-white dogs, all of
whom left after Tucker's arrival.
Five of Tucker's pigs were cut
and bleeding heavily. Five more
were gone and were believed by
Tucker to be dead in the woods.
Later, Tucker found four of the
pigs, all seriously injured. Ac
cording to the report, Tucker was
forced to kill five of the pigs and
an additional two animals will
probably have to be slaughtered.
One animal is still missing.
Nearby owners of dogs fitting
the description of the offending
animals told officers that their
canines had been on their prem
ises all day.
Deputy Stanley Rodwell is the
investigating officer.
Fire At Snow Hill
Was Set On Purpose
Those living in the Snow Hill
community of Warren County
will be pleased to know that an
old frame home belonging to
Albert Davis was the sight of a
training fire for men from the
Warrenton Rural Fire Depart
ment on Saturday afternoon, and
not the culprit of an actual fire
call.
Kenny Clayton, chief of WRFD,
said the home, located on the No
Bottom Road (SR 1118), was
burned down with the permission
of Davis, who plans to put a
trailer on the site.
Clayton indicated the firemen
do this periodically for inside fire
training practice.
Contractor Package Complete
With Plumbing Firm Addition
The $69,488 plumbing bid sub
mitted by W. M. Wiggins Co., Inc.
of Elm City for the planned addi
tion to Warren County High
School was accepted Monday
night by the Warren County
Board of Education, making
complete the four-contractor
package required before con
struction may begin.
Wiggins had submitted the low
est of three bids, but acceptance
was deferred during last week's
called meeting of the board. Ap
proval had been put on hold to
permit time for architects at
Cogswell Hausler to pursue addi
tional savings.
Earlier discussions with Wig
gins had led the architects to
believe the firm's low bid could
be reduced further. When Cogs
well personnel inquired, how
ever, they learned the savings
would apply only if the board
decided to approve the installa
tion of six-inch rather than four
inch water mains.
Currently, the WCHS fire
protection system uses four-inch
mains. With the addition of a new
middle school at the site, six-inch
water mains and their resulting
increase in water pressure had
been considered for better fire
protection potential.
"The door is still open for sav
ings, if the six-inch water mains
are added to the project," Assist
ant Superintendent of Schools
James Jordan told the board. The
board accepted Wiggins' low bid
tor the high school addition and
will consider the option for larger
water mains at a later date.
Jordan also told the board that
the general contractor?R. L.
Casey, Inc. of Greensboro?had a
45-day limit on the option of pav
ing the existing WCHS parking lot
as a part of the high school addi
tion project. Casey's $1,356,146
bid was accepted by the board on
Oct. 3. No action was taken.
In addition to Wiggins and
Casey, the other contractors for
the high school addition are HfcL
Electrical of Raleigh ($296,792)
and Southern Piping Co., Inc. of
Wilson ($367,191 for heating, ven
tilation and air conditioning).
Shown are a small group of the nearly 100
walkers who participated in Sunday's first annual
Warren County CROP Walk. Each walker ob
tained sponsors who pledged their support in a
monetary amount for each kilometer walked.
Walkers completed a 10-kilometer, or 6.4 mile route
from the Lions Den, up U. S. 158 Business, down
U. S. 158 Bypass past Warren County High School,
/
down SR 1305 and back down Ridgeway Street to
the Lions Den. Nearly $2,500 was raised, the ma
jority of which will assist a variety of overseas
hunger projects. Twenty percent of the money will
remain in Warren County to help continue the ef
forts of the Warren Cooperative Ministries in
fighting hunger locally.
(Staff Photo by Diane Davis)
Active Prison Time Is Ordered
For Pair Held On Drug Charges
By DIANE DAVIS
Staff Writer
Judgment day finally came for
two area residents who were ar
rested last month on a variety of
drug charges and denied bond.
Daniel Lee "Snake" Rook, 34,
and Kimberly Beth Aman, 32, on
Sept. 29 had barricaded them
selves in their Wildwood Point
subdivision home before law en
forcement officers invaded their
quarters.
Found inside the Club Drive
home were four grams of co
caine, a quantity of "crack" co
caine, an automatic handgun, an
Session Is Over
The October criminal session of
Warren County Superior Court
ended Tuesday afternoon
because of surgery scheduled for
Judge Brannon on Wednesday. A
complete list of judgments from
this month's term will be in next
week's issue of this paper.
assault-type rifle, a 12-gauge
shotgun and more than $6,000 in
cash.
Rook, who was charged Sept.
29 with possession with intent to
manufacture cocaine, possession
with intent to sell/deliver co
caine, felonious possession of co
caine, simple possession of co
caine, possession of drug
paraphernalia, maintaining a
dwelling for keeping and using a
controlled substance, possession
of marijuana and possession of
lottery tickets, was sentenced to
10 years in prison on Monday by
Superior Court Judge Anthony J.
Brannon of Durham.
In addition, Rook was charged
a $5,000 fine and will be treated
for drug addiction after pleading
guilty to two felony counts of co
caine possession and two felony
counts of maintaining a dwelling
for the keeping of a controlled
substance. He also pled guilty to
two misdemeanor counts of
possession of paraphernalia.
In June, Rook was charged
with the intent to sell and deliver
cocaine, possession of cocaine,
maintaining a dwelling for the
keeping of a controlled sub
stance, possession of drug
paraphernalia and trafficking
cocaine by possession.
Miss Aman pled guilty on Tues
day to charges of possession of
cocaine, possession of drug
paraphernalia, maintaining a
dwelling for the keeping of a con
trolled substance and assault
with a deadly weapon. She was
sentenced to serve six months ac
tive from a suspended 20-year
term ordered by Judge Brannon.
In addition, she was ordered to
pay fines totalling $10,000 after
also pleading guilty to a charge
of possession of cocaine stem
ming from her June arrests on
charges of trafficking cocaine by
possession and possession of co
caine. She will remain on super
vised probation for five years
under the authority of the Halifax
County Adult Probation and
Parole office. She will also be
treated for drug addiction.
Miss Aman was released into
the custody of her lawyer under
a $50,000 bond and was ordered to
report to the Warren County
Sheriffs Department on Friday,
Oct. 20 at 12 p.m. to be taken to
Women's Prison in Raleigh,
where she will serve her term.
Electrical Shortage
Is Blamed For Blaze
The Ridgeway and Norlina fire
departments responded to a fire
Monday afternoon which was
caused by an electrical shortage.
At 1:30 p.m. Monday, a fire call
was dispatched for the two
departments. The mobile home
which was on fire was located on
U. S. 158 between Norlina and
Ridgeway and is owned by Mary
Eaton.
No estimate of the damage was
given.
Board Shuffles Personnel
New Principal
Named WCHS
By THURLETTA M. BROWN
News Editor
A change in principalships and
other personnel decisions re
ceived the almost unanimous
stamp of approval Monday night
from the Warren County Board of
Education.
After reconvening in open ses
sion at 9:15 p.m. from executive
session, 10 new assignments were
announced.
Costelle Evans, effective Oct.
26, becomes principal of Warren
County High School. Last year as
North Warren principal, Evans
saw his school win consistently in
the system's student-attendance
contest. Since becoming principal
at John Graham this year, at
tendance there has improved by
three percentage points, from
93.4 to 96.4.
Effective Oct. 26, James Wil
kerson, current WCHS principal,
will join the central office staff as
director of Chapter I and other
programs.
The Chapter I directorship was
left open by the transfer of Mrs.
Jennie Franklin to the post of
John Graham principal. That ap
pointment also becomes effective
on Oct. 26.
The remaining transfers were
effective yesterday (Oct. 11):
? Tony Cozart, interim Norlina
Middle School principal, was
named principal at the school.
? Noel Robertson, a former
John Graham social studies
teacher, returned to Warren
County Schools as assistant prin
cipal for John Graham and
Norlina Middle schools.
? Mrs. Princine Jeffries
became director of personnel.
? Mrs. Ogletree Richardson,
Title V Indian Education direc
tor, also became coordinator of
Family Services, a program
focusing on pre-schoolers.
? Mrs. Mary Hunter, Com
munity Education and Public
Relations director, assumed
responsibility for media, an area
supervised previously by Mrs.
Franklin.
The employment of two per
sons from outside of the system
also became effective Tuesday.
Miss Deborah Long was named
assistant principal at Warren
County High School. Miss Long
holds a bachelor's and two
master's degrees?one in guid
ance/counseling and the other in
administration?from N. C. A&T
State University. Currently, she
is assistant principal at Durham
High School, having served
already as assistant principal at
Brogden School there. Prior posi
tions have included English
teaching posts in Person County
and at Durham High School.
Miss Jennifer Brayboy, who
will graduate in December from
Pembroke University, was hired
as a teacher of third-graders at
Mariam Boyd.
The motion to approve the 10
assignments was made by Rich
ard Roddy and seconded by Dr.
EVANS
Doris Terry-Williams. Prior to
the vote, however, Henry Pitch
ford had asked that votes be cast
on each individual position.
Hearing no support for the re
quest, a package vote was
tallied: four in the affirmative
and one, that of Pitchford, in the
negative.
Other personnel changes were
finalized prior to executive ses
sion. Resignations were accepted
from Sylvia Lockett, Vaughan
teacher of first-graders, who has
accepted a post closer to her
home, and Donna Maynard, a
South Warren teacher assistant
has left for personal reasons.
A leave of absence for mater
nity reasons was granted to Mrs.
Wanda Traylor, WCHS business
education teacher, from Nov. 9
until Jan. 2 of next year.
Mrs. Danylu Hundley, Hawkins
teacher of sixth-graders, be
comes unit-wide Child Find coor
dinator and teacher of pre-school
handicapped students, effective
Oct. 30.
Mrs. Deborah Williams, North
side pre-school teacher, on Tues
day became a unit-wide elemen
tary art teacher. She holds a
bachelor of science degree in art
from N. C. Central University.
Nine new hires with various ef
fective dates were also approved
prior to executive session:
? Anna Kilmer, a graduate of
the College of St. Rose, Albany,
N. Y., as a North Warren EMH/
LD teacher, effective Sept. 13.
? Letitia Bullock, Norlina child
nutrition assistant, effective
Oct. 16.
? Toney Grant, who returns as
a Hawkins teacher of sixth
graders, effective Oct. 30.
? Robert L. Cheek, WCHS
custodian, effective Oct 2.
? Carolyn M. Davis, who holds
a VGCC associate degree in busi
ness computed programming, as
WCHS Student Information Man
agement Systems (SIMS) cleri
cal assistant effective Oct. 12.
? DeloriaSommerville, a grad
uate of N. C. Central University,
as a Vaughan teacher of first
graders, effective Oct t.
? Lynn SUlton, a graduate of
(Continued on page 6)