Chris Smith
Christopher Smith, 19, of Wallace, pleaded guilty in Sampson County Superior Court to second degree murder and robbery with a dangerous weapon in the murder of Earl Jeffrey Newton, 31, who died of gunshot wounds to the head and chest.
As part of the plea arrangement, Smith has agreed to testify truthfully, if called upon, against other co-defendants in the case. The teen will not be sentenced until after the disposition of those other cases, Senior Resident Superior Court Judge W. Allen Cobb Jr. said.
Smith is facing a maximum sentence of 709 months in prison.
“It is hoped that this guilty plea will provide some closure for the victim’s family,” District Attorney Dewey Hudson said in a prepared statement.
Smith is the second to plead guilty in the murder.
Brandon Sebastian Rice, 21, pleaded guilty Feb. 18 to two counts of first-degree murder in the shooting death of Newton and, in a separate murder, Jessie Faison Jr., 63, who was found shot to death in his cab in Duplin County May 24, 2007. Rice was sentenced to two consecutive life sentences without the possibility of parole.
Four others, Rochael Delisia Dobson, 19, of Wallace, Marquis D. Fleming, 19, of Rose Hill, Andre Romeriaz Pridgen, 18, of Ivanhoe, and Malcolm Hargrove, 16, are still facing murder charges in Newton’s killing.
Sampson County sheriff’s deputies discovered Newton’s decomposing body while conducting a welfare check at his Wildcat Road home on Sept. 10, 2007. The check had been made in response to concerns from the victim’s family members, who had not heard from the man in some time. Newton suffered a mental disability and lived alone and his mother told sheriff’s authorities she had not seen her son for a week prior to his body’s discovery.
Days into their investigation, detectives received information that several suspects were involved in the murder, including Smith. On Sept. 18, 2007, Smith spoke with detectives, saying he had driven a van with the five other occupants to Newton’s trailer.
Assistant District Attorney Robert Roupe, in relaying the facts of the case Wednesday, said Smith met the others at a nearby gas station to do “a lick,” or robbery. Once they got to the trailer, Smith and the five others all initially went inside the residence. Half of them then returned to the van, leaving Rice, Dobson and Hargrove still inside.
Smith told detectives he heard five or six shots that sounded like a shotgun, prosecutors said. The defendant said he then saw Dobson run out of the home yelling that the victim had been shot with his own gun. Smith told investigators everyone went into the trailer following the shooting to take clothing, shoes and money, prosecutors said.
Sheriff’s investigators later determined that someone had purchased Newton’s stolen shotgun from Rice. Newton was shot by a shotgun, according to state’s evidence.
Smith’s attorney, Neil Weber, said his client was not in the home at the time the shots were fired, but drove the five others to the location where the crime would occur. Weber also noted that Smith had no involvement in the murder of Faison, in which Rice has pleaded guilty and Dobson stands charged.
“He was in the van when it occurred,” Weber said. “He is very sorry. He made the mistake of driving these co-defendants (there).”
Another co-defendant in Newton’s murder, 16-year-old Hargrove, had an appearance in Sampson County Superior Court Wednesday, where the state announced its intention to prosecute the case as a non-capital one.
Hargrove’s case was initially being handled in juvenile court, however it has since been moved up to Superior Court. He is being represented by attorney Mario White.
Roupe said the state would not seek the death penalty in the case against Hargrove, who was indicted on a charge of first-degree murder Feb. 23.
Chris Berendt can be reached at 910-592-8137, ext. 121, or by email at sicrime@myclintonnc.com.
so I sit here today & I can say that my heart do go out for the parent's of these children, like I said they're GOOD PARENT'S.So in closure let's let God be the JUDGE & not us.