Shooting stems from 'bad blood'
By Jack Stephens
Published in News on April 13, 2005 1:49 PM
Jamaal Rashaud Pearsall died as a result of a shooting that stemmed from "bad blood," between two women, prosecutors said Tuesday as testimony began in a murder trial in Wayne County Superior Court.
Dwight Eugene Sloan, 23, of Decoy Drive, Pikeville, and Kolanda Kay Wooten, 19, of Courtyard Circle, could face life in prison if convicted of first-degree murder in Pearsall's death in August 2003.
A jury of seven women and five men was seated Tuesday, and prosecutors began to build their case against the two defendants.
The first witness was a woman who said she has been Pearsall's girlfriend -- Sherquanda Fields, 21, of Goldsboro.
Prosecutors say Ms. Wooten also had a relationship with Pearsall. Assistant District Attorney Matt Delbridge said Ms. Wooten talked Sloan into shooting Pearsall.
Ms. Fields testified that she had met Ms. Wooten the day before on Olivia Lane and that they drove around looking for Ms. Wooten's brother. Later, she said, there was a confrontation involving both women and Pearsall, and the back window in Pearsall's car was smashed by another man.
A second witness, Nora Robinson, said she was on Maple Street at the time of the shooting. She said that she heard what sounded like firecrackers and then saw a man with a gun walking away from a car.
She identified Sloan as the man she saw walk away from the car in which Pearsall was found, get in another car and drive off.
Sloan is being defended by lawyer Geoff Hulse of Goldsboro. Ms. Wooten's lawyer is Michael Reese of Smithfield. Assistant District Attorney Claud Ferguson is assisting Delbridge with the prosecution.
Judge John W. Smith of Wilmington is hearing the case.