02/09/07 — Three teens charged with murder

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Three teens charged with murder

By Lee Williams
Published in News on February 9, 2007 1:57 PM

Two Southern Wayne High School students and another teen stand accused in the Feb. 4 shooting death of a 30-year-old Goldsboro man.

Michael Jahmel Allen, 18, of Canterbury Court, Dudley; Marcus Antwan Graham, 16, of Clint Drive, Dudley; and Davon Samuel Cobb, 19, of Clint Drive, Dudley, each face charges for the murder of Karemond Spells. Graham and Cobb both attended Southern Wayne High School.

Goldsboro police responded to the 100 block of Astor Court about 11:57 p.m. Feb. 4 after gunshots were heard in the area. Upon arrival, they discovered Spells had been shot in his burgundy older-model Nissan Maxima.

A resident who lived on the block where the shooting occurred called to report the shooting.

Emergency crews transported Spells to Wayne Memorial Hospital for treatment. He was later transferred to Pitt County Memorial Hospital where he later died.

Moments after the shooting, Goldsboro police began a massive manhunt looking for the suspects. The police department also called in the North Carolina Bureau of Investigations for assistance.

Four days later, they made the arrests.

"It was a difficult case," Goldsboro police spokesman Sgt. Chad Calloway said. "All of the detectives including the SBI worked on this case. It came together real well and we worked very hard on this."

At the time of the shooting, police reported Spells lived in Raleigh. Calloway said Spells did live in Raleigh for a while, but was originally from Goldsboro and lived in Goldsboro at the time of the murder.

Calloway declined to reveal many details about the case including whether they thought the murder was gang-related, a possible motive, what type of weapon was used or whether Spells was the victim of a drive-by shooting.

He said it was too early in the case to release such details.

Meanwhile, the teens are being held in the Wayne County Jail without bond. A court date for the teens is scheduled for today.