Public records
By Jack Stephens
Published in News on October 14, 2004 2:01 PM
Murder charge
A 25-year-old woman was arrested Wednesday by Goldsboro police and charged with the murder of her live-in boyfriend.
Naisha Lattner was accused of fatally stabbing Keith Shinholster on Sept. 19 in their home at 108 Courtyard Circle.
Police, fire and rescue personnel responded to the couple's home after receiving a complaint that a man had fallen on a knife, Investigator Chad Calloway said. Shinholster was rushed to Wayne Memorial Hospital, where he died shortly.
A further investigation by Calloway and Special Agent Barbara Lewis of the State Bureau of Investigation determined that the case was no longer a death investigation but a murder.
Ms. Lattner was charged by Calloway and Investigator Seth Harris on South William Street. She taken before a magistrate, who ordered that she be placed in the Wayne County Jail without bond. Her first court appearance to determine her legal representation was scheduled for today.
Financial fraud
A Wayne County couple was arrested today by Wayne County authorities and charged with numerous fraud offenses.
Linwood Ray Boykin Jr., 20, of Hinnant Road, Pikeville, and Amanda Kay Rayburn, 19, of North Point Drive were charged by sheriff's detectives with felony financial transaction card theft, felony financial identity fraud and misdemeanor larceny. Each was placed in the Wayne County Jail in lieu of a $25,000 secured bond.
Boykin and Ms. Rayburn were accused of stealing a checkbook and a VISA check card from one person and a vehicle and tools from another person, Detective C.M. Bezio said. Then the two attempted to use the check card to obtain money on line from Western Union, Bezio said.
Boykin and Ms. Rayburn also were accused by Goldsboro police with stealing a vehicle and then passing one of the stolen checks at check-cashing store.
Each was charged by police with felony forgery. Boykin also was charged with felony possession of a stolen vehicle. The secured bond for each was set at $25,000.
Five hurt in wrecks
Five people were injured and damages were estimated at $24,500 in five recent traffic collisions in Wayne County, officers reported.
*A driver from Goldsboro was injured in a two-van collision at 12:36 p.m. Wednesday at South George and Cola streets, Goldsboro police said. Brandon Lynch Benders, 19, of Live Oak Drive was treated and released from Wayne Memorial Hospital, a spokeswoman said. The other motorist, Sharon Lee Moneyham, 32, of Stone Cutter Place, Pikeville, was charged with a safe-movement violation. Police said she had pulled from the side street and the company van that she was driving collided with the southbound van that Benders was operating. Damages were put at $3,500.
*Three young passengers were injured in a one-vehicle wreck at 4 p.m. Tuesday on Wayne Memorial Drive near Hare Road, the Highway Patrol said. Reality Perry, 8, Tyreka Jones, 6, and Gary Jones Jr., 4, all of Richard Street, were released after emergency-room treatment. Their driver, Tamicka Lidell Perry, 25, of Richard Street, was charged with driving left of center and not having liability insurance after her van ran off the left side and struck a ditch. The van, valued at $4,000, was demolished.
*A driver was injured in a two-vehicle collision at 11:58 a.m. Tuesday on N.C. 111 near New Hope Road, the Highway Patrol said. Michael McFadden, 49, of Kearney Lane was released after emergency-room treatment. The other motorist, Oscar Lee Mooring, 65, of Big Daddy's Road, Pikeville, was charged with failure to reduce speed after the rear-end collision. Damages were put at $4,200.
*Two tractor-trailer trucks collided at about 8:55 a.m. Tuesday on U.S. 117 Alternate near Brook Terrace Road, and damages were estimated at $6,600, the Highway Patrol said. One trucker, David Earl Lambert, 56, of Cedar Lake Drive, was charged with failure to reduce speed after the rear-end collision. The other motorist, Kenneth Riggins, 43, of Santee, S.C., was slowing because of traffic, the report said.
*Damages were estimated at $6,200 in a two-car crash at 4:27 p.m. Saturday at U.S. 70 and Lake Wackena Road, the Highway Patrol said. One driver, Vanessa Miller Stovall, 51, of Lakeshore Drive, was charged with a safe-movement violation. The report said she had stopped for a stop sign and then started up and her car collided with a westbound auto, driven by Kenny Lee Lucas, 24, of Westover Road.
Death sentence overturned
KENANSVILLE -- District Attorney Dewey Hudson said he is disappointed in a Superior Court ruling that Russell Holden is mentally retarded and will not face the death penalty.
State law prevents the execution of the mentally retarded, but Hudson said prosecutors produced evidence that Holden was not retarded.
The judge reduced the sentence of death imposed on Holden to life imprisonment during a hearing in Duplin County Superior Court last month.
Holden was tried in Duplin County and convicted of the murder and attempted rape of Vanessa Jones in 1985. The victim was shot two times, and Holden cut her throat during an attempted rape.
A Duplin County jury recommended a sentence of death in September 1985. In September 1991, after the appellate courts ordered a re-sentencing, a second Duplin County jury sentenced Holden to death. A third Duplin County rendered the same sentence in April 1995 after another re-sentencing by the appellate court.
"I agree with the decision of 36 jurors that decided beyond a reasonable doubt that Holden deserved to die for his horrendous and vicious crimes," Hudson said. "Holden is very dangerous to society, and because of being sentenced to life imprisonment, he will be eligible for parole in the near future.
"As district attorney, I will do everything legally possible to convince the Parole Board to not release Russell Holden from prison."