Weekend marred by several shootings, two deaths
By Ethan Smith
Published in News on November 20, 2017 1:07 PM
A Saturday night shooting left one woman injured, and a Friday afternoon shooting damaged a person's car in a weekend that also saw a double homicide take place between the two incidents.
Three men were shot at in a parking lot in the 200 block of Day Circle by an unknown man Friday at about 3:33 p.m.
None of the men were injured, but the back bumper of a 57-year-old woman's vehicle was hit by the gunfire.
The suspect fled the area and was unable to be found by police.
A woman was struck by a bullet in her right calf Saturday evening at about 6:27 p.m., when people opened fire near 214 Alpha Court.
Officers were responding to a shots fired call in the area when Wayne UNC Health Care advised police that a woman had arrived at the emergency room with a gunshot wound.
A police report said four people, including the gunshot victim, were standing around a car outside of the Alpha Court apartment when several unknown people who were on foot in the area began shooting guns.
The 21-year-old woman was struck in her right calf.
Also in that incident, a 23-year-old man's car was hit three times by bullets, and an apartment at 207-A Alpha Court was also hit by the gunfire.
The report said it is unknown if the four people standing around outside of 214 Alpha Court were the intended targets of the gunfire or if they were caught in a crossfire.
These two incidents bookended a double homicide that happened early Saturday morning at about 2:50 a.m. in the 600 block of Second Street.
Officers responded to a shooting call and stopped several cars speeding away from the scene as police arrived.
Some of them were carrying people wounded by gunshots.
Three total people had been shot while in the backyard of 605 Second St.
Carlis Dwayne Benton, 38, of 707 Royall Ave., and Carlos Demoris Darden, 42, of 1202 N. Center St., were killed by the gunfire, and Joshua Davis, 30, of South Center Street, Mount Olive, sustained non-life-threatening injuries.
A home at 611 Second St. was damaged by the gunshots of the double homicide Saturday morning, and a car nearby was also damaged.
No arrests have been made in the double homicide and shooting yet, and the investigation is ongoing.
Darden was recently released from jail after charges against him of first-degree murder, possession of a firearm by a felon and being a habitual felon were dropped in Wayne County Superior Court Sept. 11.
Darden was arrested and charged after the August 2015 murder of 28-year-old Perez Donovan McDuffie.
McDuffie was found face down in a grassy area near Darden's Alpha Court residence. He suffered multiple gunshot wounds to the left side of his torso, left hand and right hand.
Prosecutors said the key witness tying Darden to the case, Tonya Annette Grier, admitted that she lied to authorities and made up her story that tied Darden to the case.
The charges against Darden were then dismissed, and an indictment for felony obstruction of justice was issued for Grier.
Grier was charged for the alleged offense, and is now set to appear in Wayne County Superior Court Dec. 5.
Maj. Anthony Carmon, head of the Goldsboro Police Department's Investigative Services Bureau, was unwilling to divulge information about specifics surrounding the double homicide.
Carmon declined to say which direction the gunfire came from, how many witnesses there were to the double homicide and how long people had been at the house prior to the shooting.
He also refused to say what the people at 605 Second St. were doing when the shooting happened, even though he confirmed that police know what the shooting victims and people at the house were doing.
"Yes we do, but we're not discussing that," Carmon said. "That's part of the investigation."
He said how and to what extent the victims of the weekend shootings knew each other is under investigation, and added that whether or not any of the shootings were related is also being looked into.
"We're working that angle now," Carmon said. "That's part of the investigation."
The city has now seen nine homicides in 2017. There were 11 homicides in 2016.
Anyone with information about these crimes, or any other crime in Wayne County is asked to call or text Crime Stoppers at 919-735-2255 or submit a tip at p3tips.com.
Callers will remain anonymous and if your information leads to a felony arrest, you will be given a cash reward for the information.