Suspect pleads to lesser charge
By John Joyce
Published in News on June 2, 2015 1:46 PM
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Quintin Leon Swinson Jr.
The man Goldsboro police say shot and killed 18-year-old Jairus Mikeal Saunders inside the now-defunct Teasers night club in September 2012 has been sentenced in Wayne County Court.
Quintin Leon Swinson Jr., 25, of Mount Olive, will serve 10 to 13 years in prison for voluntary manslaughter.
Swinson agreed through his attorney to a plea agreement offered by District Attorney Matt Delbridge's office in return for a reduction in charges from first-degree murder to voluntary manslaughter and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. Swinson also admitted to habitual felon status, which can influence sentencing.
Delbridge said the reduction in charges was a result of a lack of evidence and the inability to predict how a jury might interpret the case had it gone to trial.
"The only evidence we had was the surveillance video from inside the club," Delbridge said.
Saunders died Sept. 30 from a gunshot wound inflicted after an altercation in the men's room inside the strip club, which has since converted to the Longhorn's Business Center.
Delbridge said the surveillance footage showed Saunders and Swinson engaged in an altercation.
"It was a mutual combat situation. We couldn't tell who pulled their gun out first," he said.
The jury might not have been able to tell who initiated the conflict and might have decided the victim was the aggressor, Delbridge said.
The unwillingness of any of the witnesses that night to come forward and tell what happened further reduced the state's chances for a conviction on murder charges.
"It was another situation where the witnesses wouldn't work with the police," Delbridge said.
It took several weeks for police to locate Swinson, also known as "Fat Boy." He was eventually located and arrested Nov. 1, 2013, at a residence in Mount Olive.
Delbridge also expressed concern over the lax security practices at the night club.
"They were supposedly wanding everybody going in there, yet two guys with hand guns wind up in there. It kind of makes you wonder what was going on," Delbridge said.
The investigation also revealed security personnel working the door of the club had been instructed by a manager not to search Swinson, according court records.
The fatal shooting was the last in a long line of violent incidents at the club that resulted in the N.C. Alcoholic Beverage Control Commission to revoke the business's alcohol permits. The permits were eventually reinstated, but only temporarily. Teasers was ultimately shut down and forced to reapply for zoning permits from the city to convert in 2014 to an Internet business.