'Person of interest' sought
By John Joyce
Published in News on August 13, 2015 1:46 PM
Goldsboro police are looking for this man and have called him a "person of interest" in the Aug. 8 murder of Jerome Lavelle Barnes.
The Goldsboro Police Department is asking for the community's assistance in identifying two "persons of interest" in the Aug. 8 murder of Jerome Lavelle Barnes, 17.
Barnes was shot outside the Donel Express Mart at 518 E. Elm St. He died later that evening at Vidant Medical Center in Greenville.
After days without leads or angles to pursue, investigators released a series of still photographs from the convenience store's security cameras. Police say it is imperative they speak with the man captured on the video footage.
"We need to get this guy identified," Maj. Anthony Carmon said.
A photo of a second man was released Wednesday.
The security camera footage shows a young black man wearing a white T-shirt and a blue bandana tied around his head standing inside the store moments before the shooting. The most recent photo shows a second man, shirtless, inside the store getting the man in the blue bandana's attention.
Despite the blue bandana -- and what investigators described as a possible connection between the Barnes' murder and a murder committed early Saturday morning at the intersection of Herman Street and Royall Avenue -- investigators maintain their is no evidence the violence is gang-related.
That stance is not due to a departmental denial that gangs exist and operate in the city, Carmon said -- but rather, is due to a lack of evidence to support the theory.
"We have never denied the fact that there are gangs. Over the weekend, it does not appear from the information that we have that this is one gang versus another gang," he said. "Now, if it is one person who happens to be a member of a gang has an issue with another one person who is a member of a gang, that's a person against a person, not a gang versus a gang. We don't have any information, and I'm speaking about this weekend, we don't have any information that one gang has declared war on another one."
Members of the crowd gathered at the scene of the Royall Avenue murder -- Tyron Jones was shot and killed before 1 a.m. Saturday more than 12 hours before the Barnes killing -- identified themselves to the News-Argus as gang members.
Shots fired calls within the city continued throughout the early morning hours Saturday and into the next day, resulting in property damage reports and a woman hit by gunfire who sustained injuries, all of which amounted to community members remarking on social media that, "Goldsboro is getting out of control."
Carmon addressed the concerns voiced by citizens directly, saying he is also concerned and that people who witness crimes ought to come forward.
"As far as the citizens concern about their safety in the city, I am a resident of the city myself. I share a concern any time a crime has been committed, whether that is a break-in to a vehicle, a break-in to a home, someone assaulted on a street, I am concerned about all of that," he said.
Goldsboro interim police chief Michael West said his department takes all calls seriously and he is intent on having his officers become more engaged in the community.
"Anytime we get shots fired, we take all shots fired calls seriously. We go to the area they are reported and we do what we can to collect evidence if there is any available," West said.
Sometimes shots fired calls come in clusters and other times they can occur weeks apart, he said.
"And it goes in spells. You'll have quiet weeks where there isn't a whole lot going on and then all of a sudden ... you will see a spike," West explained. "And if the shots fired actually lead to someone being shot then, right after that, you've got to prepare yourself for retaliation or that there is going to be more. What we are seeing isn't unusual."
The biggest obstacle police face in the investigation process is getting cooperation from the community. Too often, people who witness crimes are reluctant -- based on fear of reprisal from the guilty party or from distrust of the police -- to come forward, West said.
Carmon said the chief responsibility of the police in investigating crimes is to collect evidence, develop a suspect and make an arrest. The rest is up to the judicial process.