North Carolina

ELIZABETHTOWN, NC – A Bladen County jury has convicted 41-year-old Taurean Johnson of three counts of first-degree murder and one count of attempted first-degree murder following a deadly shooting in Clarkton. According to the Office of the Fifteenth Prosecutorial District, Johnson was found guilty after a two-and-a-half-week trial and sentenced by Superior Court Judge Robert C. Roupe to three consecutive life sentences without the possibility of parole. He also received an additional sentence of 273 to 340 months in the North Carolina Department of Adult Correction. The case was investigated by the Bladen County Sheriff's Office. Prosecutors said Johnson went to a home in Clarkton that he regularly visited, knocked on the door, and was let inside. Once inside, he shot four adult...

FOREST CITY, NC – A Florida man has been arrested and extradited in connection with a double homicide that occurred more than eight years ago in Forest City. File Photo (August 2025) On September 24, 2025, Forest City Police, with the assistance of the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation, arrested 55-year-old Jose Angelo Gonzales of Fort Lauderdale, Florida. He has been charged with the May 18, 2017, killings of Akir Hooper and Stephanie Walker. Gonzales is currently being held without bond at the Rutherford County Detention Center. The arrest follows a lengthy investigation led by Forest City Police, with assistance from the SBI, FBI, Broward County Sheriff’s Office, Sunshine Police Department in Florida, and the Rutherford County Sheriff’s Office. Officials say th...

BLADEN COUNTY, NC – A Bladenboro man has been charged following a sexual assault investigation involving a minor. According to Sheriff James A. McVicker, Bladen County 911 received a call on September 7, 2025, requesting assistance at Bladen County Hospital regarding a report of sexual assault. Investigators interviewed a minor who disclosed ongoing abuse by a family member over the past several months, with the most recent incident occurring that day. Brayan Velasquez, 21, of Bladenboro, was arrested and charged with indecent liberties with a child (felony) and sexual battery (misdemeanor). He is being held at the Bladen County Detention Center under an Immigration and Customs Enforcement detainer. The investigation remains open. No additional information has been released at...

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – A federal criminal complaint was filed in U.S. District Court in Charlotte charging Decarlos Dejuan Brown Jr., 34, in connection with the fatal stabbing of Iryna Zarutska on the city’s Lynx Blue Line light rail system. Brown is charged with one count of committing an act causing death on a mass transportation system. According to the affidavit, on August 22, 2025, at about 9:55 p.m., Charlotte Mecklenburg Police officers responded to the light rail after reports of an assault. They found Zarutska inside a rail car with fatal stab wounds. Surveillance footage showed Zarutska entering the car and sitting in front of Brown. Minutes later, Brown allegedly unfolded a pocketknife and stabbed her three times from behind. He was arrested on the light rail platform short...

WHITEVILLE, N.C., June 6, 2025 — Authorities are seeking public assistance in locating 16-year-old Serenity Helen Tedder, who was reported missing on June 2, 2025. The Whiteville Police Department is leading the investigation. Serenity is described as a female, age 16. She was last seen in Whiteville, North Carolina. Anyone with information is urged to contact the Whiteville Police Department at 1-910-642-5111 or the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children at 1-800-843-5678.