HOFFMAN — An inmate at Morrison Correctional Institution scheduled was scheduled to be released Tuesday, but that didn’t happen.
Deshawn Letrey Weldon, 22, of Washington, was served Monday with a warrant for murder out of Martin County by an officer with the Rockingham Police Department.
Weldon is one of six people charged in connection to the 2018 murder of G’meke Davaron Zi’ke Watford in Williamston.
According to the Williamston Police Department, officers responded to the Carolina Pines Apartments around 10:30 p.m. on June 25 to a call of someone being shot where they found Watford suffering from an apparent gunshot wound.
Watford was first taken to Martin General Hospital in Williamston, then transferred to Vidant Medical Center in Greenville, where he died from his injuries, according to police.
The N.C. State Bureau of Investigation was called in to assist with the case.
Tyreec Antrell Dixon, 19, was initially identified as a suspect and investigators obtained a warrant for his arrest on an open count of murder in July. Dixon was arrested in New York on Feb. 5 and extradited back to North Carolina Feb. 19, investigators said.
Since then, police have arrested four others, all of Williamston, in connection with the homicide:
- Amiya Shontaire Hines, arrested Feb. 20, charged with murder
- Amari Jahmal Rodgers, arrested Feb. charged with murder
- Eric O’Neal Brown, arrested July 20, charged with murder
- Elton Ray Dixon, arrested Feb. 4, charged with accessory after the fact to murder
Weldon was just finishing up a three-month sentence on drug charges from Beaufort County, according to records with the N.C. Department of Public Safety Division of Adult Correction.
He was convicted Aug. 23, 2018 on two counts each of possession with intent to sell a Schedule I controlled substance and possession or use of drug paraphernalia. Initially given a 36-month suspended sentence, Weldon’s probation was revoked and his sentence began May 8.
Records show he was admitted to Robeson Confinement in Response to Violation Center on May 15 and transferred to Morrison on June 21.
Weldon’s record includes two infractions from July 20: high-risk act; and involvement with a gang or security risk group.
His only previous conviction was in 2015 of misdemeanor larceny and possession of stolen goods in Martin County.
Weldon was to be held at Morrison until picked up and released into the custody of Martin County officials, according to a DPS spokesman.
Charges against all defendants are still pending, according to police.
All defendants facing criminal charges are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
