FAIR BLUFF, N.C. (WNCN) – Prosecutors will seek the death penalty for one of the suspects in the shooting death of a North Carolina State Highway Patrol trooper, according to a news release Wednesday.
District Attorney Jon David announced that a Columbus County grand jury issued an indictment for first-degree murder against Chauncy Askew in the shooting death of Trooper Kevin Conner, the release said. He added that his office plans to seek the death penalty against Askew.
Askew, 18, was arrested Loris, South Carolina early in the morning on Oct. 23, David said.
“This alleged crime is reprehensible because it was perpetrated against a law enforcement officer who was brutally gunned down in the line of duty,” David said in a release.
Conner was shot Oct. 17 around 12:15 a.m. while conducting a traffic stop on U.S. 701 near Sellers Town Road in Columbus County.
The driver and second suspect in the case is 20-year-old Raheem Davis, of Chadbourn. He pulled over onto the shoulder after the traffic stop was initiated for a speeding violation. When Conner made his approach to the vehicle, the driver fired several shots, hitting Conner in the head and torso, authorities said.
David said an investigation showed Askew was inside the truck with Davis at the time of the fatal shooting.
“The case against Raheem Davis remains in District Court and my office will make a charging determination about him at a later date,” David said in the release.
Davis is set in District Court on Jan. 17, 2019, the release said.
