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Southern Vance softball wins conference opener
Page 1B
TUESDAY, March 16, 2010
Volume XCVI, No. 63
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Cobb: No contest to elderly neglect Son pleads in mother’s death; State agrees to drop charges against his wife
Judge Howard Manning Jr. also imposed 10 weekends in jail, 36 months of probation and a requirement that the 51-year-old defenA Superior Court judge gave Abner Bryant Cobb Jr. a suspended dant do 500 hours of community service by assisting the elderly 10-12 months prison sentence within the first two years. Monday after accepting his plea of On Nov. 17 of 2006, Henderson no contest to elderly neglect in the police charged Cobb, his wife, SanNov. 13, 2006 death of his 74-yeardra, and their daughter, Jessica Arold mother, Margaret Cobb. By AL WHELESS Daily Dispatch Writer
Raleigh gunfire kills man, 23
rington, with second-degree murder and elderly abuse. Prior to that, investigators had charged all three family members with elderly neglect in the case. The plea bargain with Cobb calls for prosecutors to drop all charges against his wife. Asst. District Attorney Kermit W. Ellis Jr. said Monday night that
the case against Arrington, who is 29, has yet to be resolved. Moments before sentencing, Cobb trembled and sobbed as he stood before the bench and said he had spent most of his adult life doing for his mother. After pausing, he stammered Please see COBB, page 4A
oxford
Teacher found dead in vehicle
Driver of vehicle exchanged shots with security guard By AL WHELESS Daily Dispatch Writer
Raleigh police on Monday continued the investigation into the shooting death of a Henderson man found Sunday morning in a parked car near a store. The 23-year-old victim, Sedrick Williams, was pronounced dead after police officers arrived around 3 a.m. at a convenience store in the 3100 block of Capital Boulevard. Jim Sughrue, a spokesman for the police department, said the car’s driver, 33-year-old Tobarus Oneal Alston of Henderson, exchanged gunfire with a security guard outside a nightclub. Alston was charged with assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill for his role in exchanging gunfire with the security guard, Alston Shontavius Levon Brown, 35, outside Pericos nightclub at 2414 Paula St. Investigators said Brown had asked Alston and Williams to leave the premises of Pericos. The two Henderson men entered the vehicle, which then stopped on the street in front of the nightclub. Alston got out of the vehicle and exchanged gun shots with Brown. It was unclear how Williams was shot or what role he had in the exchange. Neither security guards, patrons nor employees called 911 concerning what occurred at Pericos. Alston was also charged with possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. Police said the Wake County District Attorney’s office will review the findings of detectives concerning Brown’s actions in relation to the shooting. Anyone with information about the occurrences at the nightclub is being asked to call the Raleigh Police Department’s detective division at 919-996-3555.
Daily Dispatch/ASHLEY STEVEN AYSCUE
Hazmat suits lie at the end of the driveway at this home at 107 Hazelwood Court in the Rollingwood subdivision in Oxford Monday morning after the body of Phillita Harris was found in a car with a chemical mixture on the seat.
Police: Suicide probable cause of death; toxic chemicals found near body By WILLIAM F. WEST Daily Dispatch Writer
OXFORD — A 35-year-old Vance County educator was found dead over the weekend in a car behind her home at Rollingwood subdivision and with a noxious mix of chemicals on a seat of the vehicle. The body of Phillita Harris, of 107 Hazelwood Court, was taken to the N.C.
Office of the Chief Medical Examiner in Chapel Hill for an autopsy. “We are considering this a suspicious death investigation, currently, with suicide the probable cause,” Oxford Police Chief John Wolford said. Phillita Harris had taught second grade at Dabney Elementary School. She had been on medical leave since March 11, 2009. “And of course we’re saddened by the
news,” said Terri Hedrick, public information officer for Vance County Schools. Harris was the daughter of Barbara Harris, who retired from serving as principal of West Oxford Elementary School. Officers received the call shortly after 10 p.m. Sunday to Rollingwood, which is off N.C. 96 and south of Interstate 85. They found Phillita Harris with a Please see DEATH, page 3A
election 2010: warren county
Three vie for Warren County sheriff By DAVID IRVINE Daily Dispatch Writer
WARRENTON — Warren County Sheriff Johnny Williams will have opposition in the Democratic primary this spring and again in the general election in the fall. Williams and Greg Ayscue are vying for votes in the May 4 Democratic primary. Mike Suggs is unopposed for the nomination in the Republican primary. This is the second try for the office of sheriff for Ayscue, 34. In the 2006 primary, he placed second behind Williams in a field of five. Ayscue has 13 years of law enforcement experience, including positions
Suggs
Ayscue
Williams
in the Warren County Sheriff’s Department, Louisburg City Police and Warrenton Police Department. He resigned from the last-named position in order to run for sheriff. He served as a School Resource officer in Franklin County and taught the
DARE program at Mariam Boyd Elementary School. Ayscue has more than 1,800 hours of continuing education credit in areas such as North Carolina Certified Law Enforcement Officer, N.C. Certified School Resource Officer, Nationally Certified DARE Instructor, Civil Law and Liability Certification, Drug Enforcement for Patrol Officers, Comprehensive Roadside Criminal Interdiction, Leadership Development for Law Enforcement Managers and the School for Sheriffs, Deputies, and Detention Officers, to list a few. Please see SHERIFF, page 3A
>> INSIDE TODAY <<
Index
Weather
Deaths
Our Hometown. . . . . . . . . . . . 2A Quick Take . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5A Opinion. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6A Light Side . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7A Sports. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-4B Comics. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5B Classifieds. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-8B
Today
Chesapeake, Va.
High: 54, Low: 37
Henderson
Franklinton
Cloudy
Wednesday
Sunny
James H. Powell, 84
Lorraine O. Blackley, 86 Thomas Montgomery Sedrick Williams, 23 Joseph L. Wilson, 53
High: 61, Low: 37
Details, 3A
Obituaries, 4A
Louisburg Norlina
Warren W. Smith Sr., 86
Oxford Warren County
Lillian Widamen, 89 Mildred P. Hall, 76 Johnnie Williams, 67 Dorothy P. Ross, 97
Soldier acquitted in deaths faces military trial Page 8A