Assault suspect sought
By John Joyce
Published in News on May 22, 2013 1:46 PM
The Wayne County Sheriff's Office announced Monday the arrest of one of two suspects believed to have assaulted a Rosewood man on May 5. The assault was not reported until five days after the incident.
Scott Michael Neilson, 23, of 229 Becton Circle, is currently being held under a $100,000 secured bond, facing charges of first-degree kidnapping and assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill inflicting serious injury.
According to a report filed May 10, Lewis Cody Honeycutt, 22, of 1033 Rosewood Road, was driven to Wayne Memorial Hospital after the assault, but initially declined to tell investigators who attacked him.
He changed his mind five days later and met with deputies at the Wayne County Magistrate's Office in Goldsboro.
Honeycutt, according to the report, decided to tell his story to investigators because of "other incidents" involving the suspect following the assault. The report did not specify what other incidents allegedly took place.
On the date of the assault, Honeycutt told the deputies that Neilson came to his home to talk. With Neilson was an individual identified only as "Chief."
At some point during the conversation, Neilson allegedly pulled a handgun, pointed it at Honeycutt's head, and then struck the victim with it knocking him unconscious.
When he came to, Honeycutt said Chief was punching him all over his body. Both suspects, he alleged, said they were going to kill him.
The attack was interrupted when the victim's girlfriend, 22-year-old Samantha Lee Ross-Varnar, came home. According to the report, when she saw Honeycutt's bloodied body she begged the two men to stop hitting him. She told deputies that she pulled out her phone to call 911, but Chief slapped her in the face and Neilson pointed the gun at her saying he was going to kill her.
According to the report, Chief then convinced Neilson that it was time to go and the two men fled.
That is when Ross-Varnar drove Honeycutt to the hospital.
Neilson is due in Wayne County District Court on May 29 and investigators are still working to identify and find the suspect known as Chief.
Anyone with information regarding this investigation is asked to call or text Crime Stoppers at either 919-735-2255 or 919-222-4230, respectively.
Tipsters can also contact the Wayne County Sheriff's Office at 919-731-1480.