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ROSE HILL – The Office of District Attorney Ernie Lee announced on March 4 that Antwan Terrell Wright of Goldsboro, was found guilty of murdering Darius Atkins of Rose Hill. Wright was charged with first-degree murder and sentenced to life without parole on March 1.
According to the District Attorney, on Nov. 25, 2020, at 5:23 a.m. law enforcement was dispatched to the House of Raeford, located at 3333 US Highway 117, in Rose Hill, after Atkins was shot three times while he and other workers were in the parking lot of the facility during an early morning break.
Wright, who also worked at the facility, but did not show up for work during the same shift, waited for Atkins to come outside. According to the District Attorney it is believed that Wright had motives to shoot and kill the victim, which came out during the trial by jury.
According to the press release, Wright mistakenly believed that the victim shot up his grandmother’s house in Goldsboro, just prior to the shooting. Wright drove away in a vehicle that others recognized as a car associated with him but owned by his sister. Wright fled from the scene and was located approximately three months later with assistance of the U.S. Marshal’s cell phone records, and social media data was used to help connect Wright to the crime.
The investigation conducted by the Duplin County Sheriff’s Office, led to Wright being charged. The FBI Cellular Analysis Survey Team assisted the investigation and prosecution. FBI Special Agent Harrison Putman obtained cellular phone records, which placed Wright close to the scene after the homicide and was a critical piece of evidence necessary to prove Wright’s guilt.
In addition, to the convictions for first degree murder by premeditation and deliberation and possession of a firearm by felon. Wright has prior convictions in Guilford County for 13 counts of robbery with a dangerous weapon in February 2002 and attempted possession of a firearm by a felon in Wayne County for a weapons offense that occurred just a little over a month prior to the homicide.
“This office values the hard work of the Duplin County Sheriff’s Office and FBI Cellular Analysis Survey Team for their investigative efforts in this case. The prosecutors in this case spent countless hours at night and during the weekends preparing this case for trial. This was an effort made by all those involved to help remove this violent offender from our community and seek justice for the victim’s family,” stated District Attorney Ernie Lee.
Judge Henry L. Stevens, IV of Duplin County was the presiding judge. He sentenced Wright to life without parole for first-degree murder and a consecutive sentence of at least 17 months and a maximum of about 2 and a half years, in the North Carolina Department of Correction. The State was represented by Senior Assistant District Attorney Lori Carroll and Assistant District Attorney Jason McGuirt.
