A Hickory man charged with murder made his first court appearance in Catawba County Thursday.

60-year-old Jerry Lewis Woods is charged with the stabbing death of 33-year-old Octavia Deanna Beatty.

A previous Hickory Police report shows the incident was a result of a domestic dispute.

A district court judge reportedly told Woods that the maximum punishment for the crime is the death penalty.

His next court date is January 17^th.

Woods is being held without bond.

 A suspicious vehicle call leads a McDowell deputy to make a drug arrest.

22-year-old Erica Noelle Braswell of Marion has been charged with possession of methamphetamine and possession of drug paraphernalia.

Officers were investigating a report of a suspicious vehicle parked near the Bethel Freewill Baptist Church cemetery.

A search of the car and its two occupants turned up 2 grams of meth and items of drug paraphernalia.

The total of flu-related deaths has reached 10 in NC for the 2018-19 season- that according to state health officials.

Reports say eight of the victims were ages 65 or older; while two were in the 25-49 age group.

The death rate is at the mid-range of the scale for this time frame compared with previous flu seasons.

Last year for the same time period, there were 15 flu deaths.

Besides the elderly, other vulnerable groups are children younger than 5, pregnant women, and those with pre-existing medical conditions.

The flu season officially began October 1^st and typically runs through March 31^st.