Attorneys for a 19-year-old girl charged in separate local murders spoke with state prosecutors “very recently” in attempts to gauge what route would be taken in handling the 2007 cases.

Five others have already begun serving sizable prison terms after pleading guilty this year in the two fatal shootings. Murder charges are still pending against Rochael Delisa Dobson, 19, of Wallace, in murders occurring months apart in 2007.

Among the offenses against her, Dobson stands charged with murder, robbery with a dangerous weapon and felony conspiracy to commit both offenses in the death of Earl Jeffrey Newton, 31, shot inside his Harrells home around Labor Day 2007.

Additionally, Dobson is accused of first degree murder, robbery with a dangerous weapon, first degree kidnapping and felony conspiracy to commit the three offenses in the murder of Jessie Faison, Jr., 63, shot to death in his cab in Duplin County May 24, 2007.

Assistant District Attorney Bob Roupe said those charges are still pending as state prosecutors talk with Dobson’s attorneys about how to proceed.

“We are hoping to have an answer to that soon,” said Roupe. “Our office and her attorneys are still in the process of discussing the case. We have been working on it very recently and hope to have that question resolved in the very near future.”

Dobson is represented in the Sampson County case by attorney Doug Parsons. She is represented in the Duplin case by Mary Susan Phillips.

Newton’s 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.

Following the discovery, Sampson County Sheriff’s investigators received information in the murder that implicated several people, including Dobson.

According to state’s evidence presented at previous plea hearings, Dobson, Brandon Rice, 21, Marquis Fleming, 19, and Malcolm Hargrove, 17, were all in the victim’s house when the robbery occurred. Rice is said to have fired first at the victim. Others ran from the residence before returning to the home and taking clothes, money and a shotgun.

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 was found dead behind the wheel of a cab he operated as part of Faison Taxi Service, having sustained two gunshots wounds to the head. He was found the morning of May 24, 2007 on Cool Springs Road, near Kenansville.

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.”

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.

The Duplin County Sheriff's Office and SBI agents received information that Rice, Hargrove and Anthony Kenan, 19, were in the cab with the victim before he was shot. Suspect statements also tied Rice to the murder of Faison.

Already sentenced

Since February, six others have entered similar guilty pleas in the murders, five of whom have been sentenced to sizable terms.

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

Kenan pleaded guilty to the first degree murder of Faison in March and also received life behind bars without possibility of parole.

In June, Fleming, 19, and Pridgen, 18, each pleaded guilty to second degree murder and robbery with a dangerous weapon in Newton’s murder and were sentenced to a minimum of 18 years, nine months and a maximum of 24 years in prison.

Hargrove was sentenced last month to a minimum of 32 years in prison and a maximum of 41 and a half years after pleading guilty to second degree murder and robbery charges in the murders of both Newton and Faison.

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

Dobson is the last remaining suspect in the murders, and is the one who has not pleaded guilty in the case. It is unclear whether she will soon face the charges, either as part of a plea agreement or by way of a trial.

“We are hoping to have an answer to that soon,” noted Roupe. “There’s not been a court date set.”

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