Shooting victim survives
Published 9:54 am Tuesday, August 16, 2016
MAPLETON – Three individuals from Hertford County stand charged after a Northampton County man was shot eight times here last week during an apparent robbery attempt.
Hertford County Sheriff Juan Vaughan said 19-year-old Dwight Jerome Sessoms of Ahoskie, 31-year-old Kourtne Spiers of Murfreesboro, and 19-year-old Quatwan Marcel Knight of Ahoskie have been arrested. They are accused of the roles they played in the Aug. 8 shooting of Orson Lomac Davis, 41, of Garysburg.
Following his arrest on Aug. 13, Sessoms was charged with one felony count each of attempted murder, and conspiracy. He is being held in the Hertford County Jail under a $500,000 secured bond, and is scheduled to make his initial court appearance today (Tuesday).
Spiers was charged with a single count of felony conspiracy. She was also arrested on Aug. 13 and placed under a $2,500 secured bond in advance of her court appearance today.
Knight also faces a single count of felony conspiracy and was jailed under a $1,000 secured bond. He made his first court appearance on Aug. 12.
The investigation into the shooting began last Monday night when HCSO Deputy Chase Oliver responded to a call placed by officials at Vidant Roanoke-Chowan Hospital in reference to a man in their Emergency Room suffering from multiple gunshot wounds.
“Mr. Davis told Deputy Oliver that he went to the Mapleton area to meet Kourtne Spiers,” Vaughan said. “He stated that when Ms. Spiers entered his vehicle on the passenger’s side, two unknown males opened the driver’s side door and yelled ‘give it up’ after which time the two males begin shooting him.”
Vaughan reported that Davis suffered two gunshot wounds to each thigh, two more in the stomach, and the final two in his left arm.
“Mr. Davis said after he was shot, he managed to drive away from the scene, leaving Spiers and his two assailants behind,” Vaughan remarked. “He stopped at a residence somewhere along US 258 between Murfreesboro and Woodland, in Northampton County, to ask for help. He stated he was trying to get to his sister’s residence in Woodland.”
The Sheriff added that HCSO Lt. Dexter Hayes met Northampton County Sheriff’s Deputy Ashley Leitner at the residence where Davis stopped. There, Hayes photographed the vehicle and then had it towed to the Hertford County Sheriff’s Office to be inventoried for evidence.
Meanwhile, Davis was transferred to Sentara Norfolk General Hospital for further medical treatment.
“Deputy Oliver later received a phone call informing him that Ms. Spiers was at the Murfreesboro Police Department and wanted to talk about the incident with Mr. Davis,” Vaughan said. “She stated that she and Mr. Davis had arranged to meet in Mapleton. When she got inside his vehicle, a man opened the door on the driver’s side and began shooting Mr. Davis. Ms. Spiers said she exited the vehicle and fled on foot before someone in a vehicle stopped and picked her up and took her to her home in Murfreesboro. She said she did not know who that driver was.”
She did, however, tell Deputy Oliver that Knight gave her a ride to Mapleton to meet with Davis.
“When we interviewed Mr. Knight about what happened that night, his story kept changing,” Vaughan said, adding that led to felony conspiracy charges and Knight’s arrest on Aug. 9.
Davis was released from the Norfolk hospital on Aug. 9 and came to the Sheriff’s Office in Winton to further talk about the case, Vaughan said.
“He told us that Ms. Spiers had called him several times after the shooting, claiming she had nothing to do with it,” Vaughan said.
Upon her arrest on Aug. 13, Spiers initially chose not to speak with HCSO investigators, but later told them that she had planned the robbery and alleged that Sessoms was the one that shot Davis.
“She did say that she told Mr. Sessoms not to shoot Mr. Davis, that they only wanted to rob him,” Vaughan said.