Three charged in murder in Mt. Olive
By Lee Williams
Published in News on July 12, 2007 1:46 PM
A woman and two brothers have been charged in a shootout at Brookwood Apartments on Daly Boulevard in Mount Olive last Friday that left an innocent bystander dead.
Amanda Council, 35, of Wynn Street, Arsenio Martrez Rivers, 17, of Center Street, and D'Morriais Q. Rivers, 25, of Daly Boulevard, all of Mount Olive, each face murder charges in the shooting death of 38-year-old Julius Troublefield Jr. of Center Street.
The suspects were arrested Wednesday by the Mount Olive Police Department. They are being held at the Wayne County Jail without bond.
Mount Olive police responded to 221 Daly Blvd. after gunshots were heard in the area at about 11:53 p.m. Friday and found Troublefield lying dead on the sidewalk and a crowd of people standing around him. Troublefield died from a gunshot wound to the chest, police said.
An investigation revealed that tensions between several groups of people escalated and ended in a shootout.
Ballree said the incident was not gang-related.
"We don't think it was a gang-type problem," Ballree said. "It was more or less a problem between themselves."
The police chief added that Troublefield was not involved in the shootout. He was merely an innocent bystander.
"That's what we're looking at this as," Ballree said. "It appears he had no major involvement in the shooting itself that happened to be in the area."
Ballree said the work of his officers and investigators, the State Bureau of Investigation, the Wayne County Sheriff's Office and cooperation from several witnesses aided their efforts in cracking such a difficult case.
Now that several arrests have been made, Ballree hopes this will restore faith among residents about safety in the community.
"I'm very pleased that it came together like it did," he said. "Anytime you have a situation like this it causes a lot of fear, anguish and anger for the family. You're always glad when you can make an arrest. Hopefully, it has a common effect on the whole community."