Sunday, Nov. 08, 2009

The Carolinas | Mother, daughter killed after car flips

South Carolina

PICKENS

Mother, daughter killed after car flips

Authorities say a South Carolina mother and daughter have been killed after their car flipped several times after running off the road into an embankment.

Troopers said the wreck happened around 3:30 p.m. Friday on a road near Pickens.

Authorities say 78-year-old Lillian Tate lost control of her 1995 Chevrolet Lumina, which hit an embankment and flipped over several times, ejecting her daughter 57-year-old Deborah Whitmire.

Neither woman was wearing a seat belt.

Authorities say the mother and daughter were both from Greenville.

SUMMERVILLE

2nd woman charged in girl's death

The roommate of a South Carolina woman charged with homicide by child abuse in the death of a 3-year-old girl in her care is also facing similar charges.

Investigators charged 23-year-old Shanita Cunningham with homicide by child abuse Friday. Cunningham lived with 23-year-old Erica Butts, who was arrested after Serenity Richardson died Tuesday. Police wouldn't talk about Cunningham's role in the girl's death.

Authorities say the girl had bruises all over her body and a large burn on her leg. They say she was beaten with a belt after wetting her pants.

Police say Butts was taking care of the child while her mother tried to move from Detroit.

It wasn't immediately clear if either woman had an attorney.

GASTONIA

Shot to heart felled serial killer

A bullet to the heart fired by a North Carolina police officer killed the man authorities think was a serial killer responsible for five deaths in South Carolina this summer.

An autopsy report obtained Friday by The Gaston Gazette found 41-year-old Patrick Burris was shot three times when he was confronted by officers July 6 in a Gastonia home.

The report finds the fatal bullet broke two ribs and punctured Burris' heart before lodging in a kidney. One bullet went through his scalp without hitting his brain and another grazed his thigh.

Prosecutors cleared the officers last month, saying they feared for their lives after Burris shot at them.

Authorities say Burris killed five people about 30 miles away in Gaffney over six days.

North Carolina

EDEN

1 dead, 2 wounded in nightclub shooting

Authorities say a 37-year-old Virginia man is dead and two other people injured in a shooting outside a North Carolina nightclub.

Eden police were checking out a suspicious car around 2:30 a.m. Saturday when they heard gunshots coming from Eden's Icehouse Club and Lounge. The officers say they saw several people running from the club, then found three people who had been shot.

Authorities say 37-year-old Timothy Seay, of Martinsville, Va., died on the scene and two other men were taken to the hospital. Police have made no arrests in the shootings.

CHARLOTTE

Police search for man in girlfriend's death

Authorities say they are looking for a North Carolina man who shot his girlfriend at his parents' home after police were called to break up an argument.

Charlotte-Mecklenburg police said that 27-year-old Davon Thomas ran into some woods near Reedy Creek Park in northeast Charlotte after the shooting around 5 a.m. Saturday.

Investigators say the woman died on the scene after being shot several times.

Police say Thomas has military experience and is likely armed. Records show Thomas has a conviction for assault with a deadly weapon and an arrest for assault on a female.

FAYETTEVILLE

Man gets 18 to 23 years in beating death

A man has been sentenced to two decades in prison for beating a 78-year-old disabled acquaintance to death.

Charles Gainey II, 35, accepted a plea deal Friday, pleading guilty to second-degree murder and common law robbery. A Cumberland County Superior Court judge sentenced Gainey to between 18 years and nearly 23 years in prison.

Prosecutors say Gainey used Clarence Bauer's car and cell phone after beating him to death in October 2008.

Gainey apologized to his mother and Bauer's son during his plea.

MOUNT AIRY

Suspect in deaths of 4 in U.S. illegally

Authorities say the suspect in the killing of four men outside a North Carolina store was in the U.S. illegally and had been deported before.

Federal immigration officials said Marcos Gonzalez, 26, was sent out of the county in 2007 after serving a prison sentence for kidnapping. Police Chief Dale Watson says he was disturbed to find out Gonzalez was deported after committing a violet crime.

Gonzalez is charged with four counts of murder in the Nov. 1 shootings in the parking lot of a television store in Mount Airy. Investigators haven't determined exactly what caused the shooting, but they don't think the victims were chosen at random.