Deliberating for less than 45 minutes last Friday, a jury found a Lenoir woman guilty of first-degree murder.

62-year-old Nancy Benge Austin was handed the verdict following the 2013 shooting death of 20-year-old Dylan Joseph Short.

Court records show Short went to Austin’s home on December 26^th 2013 to talk to Austin’s daughter with whom he has a son.

Reports say Short and Nancy Austin began a confrontation outside the home; while Austin used a 38-caliber revolver to shoot Short; claiming she was protecting herself and her daughter.

Short reportedly was still able at that point to attempt to take the gun away from Austin; but was unsuccessful and Austin fired another shot that proved fatal to Short.

Following her conviction, the judge imposed a life sentence in prison without parole.

Austin’s trial lasted for two weeks in Caldwell County Superior Court.

An Iredell County man drowns while swimming in a western NC lake on Sunday evening around 7.

Witnesses report 21-year-old Marquise Maurice Dukes of Harmony jumped off a fishing pier at Lake Glenville in Sylva.

Dukes was reportedly a former football player at North Iredell High.

Observers report he tried to swim back to a designated swimming area with bystanders trying to help him; but he could not get back to shore.

Witnesses further state he became distressed and went underneath the water’s surface and did not reappear.

Rescue divers from Henderson County recovered Duke’s body Sunday just before midnight.

During the holiday and the warm summer months, the state department of health and human services caution swimmers to take steps to ensure water safety; including keeping a close watch on children and young adults.

Drowning deaths among young children often happen when youngsters access pools without supervision or when adults are distracted.

That according to the NC Office of the Chief Medical Examiner in investigating 12 drowning deaths in 2018.

A tragic Memorial Day weekend accident when a 1-year-old in Iredell County dies in a golf cart mishap.

The state department of public safety says the accident happened just after 5:30 Sunday evening near Mooresville.

Reports say a family of three adults and four children were in the cart when the vehicle hit a pothole causing it to overturn.

The driver and the right front passenger were both holding 1 year-old boys.

An adult and two three-year-old girls were on the rear-facing seat in  back officials say.

One of the boys, Kipton Jester of Denver was killed; and all the other occupants were thrown from the cart and transported to an area hospital with minor injuries.

There are no charges expected in the accident.