A local teenager will be behind bars until he is nearly 50 years old for his role in separate 2007 murders of an elderly Duplin County cab driver and a disabled Harrells man.

Malcolm Hargrove, 17, pleaded guilty Thursday in Duplin County Superior Court to two counts of second degree murder, two counts of robbery with a dangerous weapon and one count of first degree kidnapping and was sentenced to a minimum of 32 years in prison.

Hargrove pleaded guilty to the second degree murder and robbery of Earl Jeffrey Newton, 31, that occurred in Sampson County around Labor Day 2007. He also pleaded to the second degree murder, kidnapping and robbery of Jessie Faison, Jr., 63, in Duplin County on May 24, 2007.

The defendant waived venue in the Sampson County murder of Newton and gave his consent for the Sampson County case to be handled in Duplin County.

Hargrove was sentenced by Judge Russell J. Lanier Jr. to a minimum of 16 years and maximum of 20 years, nine months in Newton’s death. He received the same sentence in Faison’s murder.

The sentences will be served consecutively as part of a plea agreement with the state, represented by Chief Assistant District Attorney Ernie Lee and Assistant District Attorney Robert Roupe, and the defendant, represented by Cathi Hale of Wallace and Mario White of Clinton.

With the sentence, 17-year-old Hargrove will serve a minimum of 32 years and a maximum of 41 and a half years in the N.C. Department of Corrections.

Before entering the guilty pleas, and receiving the subsequent sentences, state prosecutors detailed evidence and investigators’ findings in each murder.

Newton’s decomposing body was found inside his home at 6935 Wildcat Road by Sampson County Sheriff’s authorities conducting a welfare check Sept. 10, 2007. The check had been made in response to concerns from Newton’s family members, who had not heard from the man in some time.

Deputies found Newton, who suffered a mental disability and lived alone, dead from shotgun-inflicted wounds to the head and chest. Evidence showed his body had been in the home for several days. His mother had last seen him alive Sept. 3, a week earlier.

On Sept. 14, 2007 Sampson County Sheriff’s investigators received information about the possible involvement of several people in the murder, including Hargrove.

Hargrove told law enforcement that he and others, including Brandon Rice, Marquis Fleming and Rocheal Dobson, were all in the victim’s house when the robbery occurred. Hargrove said Rice fired the first shot at the victim and then Hargrove and Dobson ran from the residence. Hargrove told investigators that Rice, Fleming and Andre Pridgen planned the robbery, but he had received part of the money robbed from the victim.

An autopsy revealed Newton died from gunshot wounds to the head and chest, consistent with being shot with a shotgun and a handgun.

In the other murder, Faison’s taxi was found the morning of May 24, 2007 on Cool Springs Road, near Kenansville. Well-known in the area, Faison was found behind the wheel of the cab that he operated as part of Faison Taxi Service.

According to state’s evidence, fragments of a potato were found inside the taxi, “consistent with a potato being used as a silencer on a firearm.” An autopsy on Faison revealed he had been shot twice in the head.

During the investigation of the murder of Faison, it was determined that suspects in Newton’s murder may have been responsible for the cab driver’s death. According to investigators, statements provided by suspects in that case tied Rice to the murder of Faison. A co-defendant told Duplin County Sheriff's investigators and the SBI that Hargrove and Anthony Kenan were in the cab with the victim before he was shot.

Since the beginning of this year, five others have entered similar guilty pleas in the murders and received lengthy sentences.

Rice, 21, pleaded guilty to two counts of first degree murders involving the deaths of Faison and Newton in February and received two consecutive sentences of life without parole.

Kenan, 19, pleaded guilty to first degree murder of Faison in March and also received life without parole.

Last month, Fleming and Pridgen each pleaded guilty to second degree murder and robbery with a dangerous weapon in Newton’s murder and were each sentenced to a minimum of 18 years, nine months and a maximum of 24 years in prison.

Christopher Smith Jr., 19, has also pleaded guilty to second degree murder and robbery with a dangerous weapon in Newton’s murder, however his sentencing was postponed for his truthful testimony against any co-defendants.

“The defendants sentenced in these murders have all received substantial active sentences and it is hoped that all of the these pleas of guilty will provide some closure for the victim's families and prevent (Hargrove) from ever committing any harm against the people of Duplin and Sampson counties,” District Attorney Dewey Hudson said in a prepared statement.

Charges remain pending on Dobson, 19, in both murders.

Chris Berendt can be reached at 910-592-8137, ext. 121, or by email at sicrime@myclintonnc.com.