Lenoir Shooting

Two people are dead and an infant is in critical condition following a noontime shooting in Lenoir on Monday.

Lenoir Police were dispatched to the shooting incident on North Willow Street.

Upon arrival, officers discovered two adults and an infant child suffering from gunshot wounds.

EMS personnel transported the three to a local hospital where 24-year-old Anthony Maurice Stevenson Junior and 21-year-old Shantel Leighann Harper died from their injuries according to a press release.

The infant child was airlifted to CMC Main and remains in critical condition.

Preliminary information and evidence gathered at the crime scene suggests that the three are related, and the shooting occurred following a domestic disturbance.

The investigation into the case is active and ongoing.

Anyone having information about the incident should call Lenoir Police at 757-2104.

 

Operation Game Over

A joint crackdown on illegal drug, gun and gambling activities in Lenoir resulted in 40 arrest warrants.

Called ‘Operation Game Over’ a dual operation between Lenoir police and state ALE officials targeted two Lenoir convenience stores.

Reports say there had been citizen complaints about Gamewell Superette on Morganton Boulevard and Fastop on Blowing Rock Boulevard.

Whenever a search warrant was executed at Gamewell Superette, authorities report employees at the store were accused of distributing meth and heroin to customers.

The 40 arrest warrants that were secured contained charges ranging from felony gaming and carrying a concealed weapon to trafficking in opium.

30 of the 40 suspects have been arrested.

Gamewell Superette’s alcohol license has been suspended for 30 days during the investigation reports say.

Prison Sentence

A Hickory man is sentenced to spend the remainder of his life in prison after a Catawba County jury found him guilty on two counts of first degree murder.

32-year-old Arsenio Dewayne Curtis was convicted in the deaths of a Claremont couple that occurred more than five years ago.

Curtis was given two consecutive life sentences without parole Friday at the end of a week-long trial in Catawba County Superior Court.

A news release says Curtis was found guilty of his role in the March 2016 home invasion and shooting deaths of 34-year-old Mark Anthony Wilson and 39-year-old Deidra LaCarol Ramseur at the couple’s home on Rest Home Road in Claremont.

He was also found guilty of first-degree burglary, robbery with a dangerous weapon, and conspiracy to commit robbery.

Curtis received a sentence of 9 to 12 years for those crimes to be served consecutively to the life sentences.

COVID Update

72 new COVID-19 cases reported in Burke County since last Thursday bringing the county’s total to 16-thousand-131.

A news release indicates 225 cases remain active while 14 Burke residents are still in the hospital.

Burke’s positivity rate continues to decline with a current rate at 4-point-9.

McDowell County reported 12 new cases Monday, for a total of 8-thousand-727.

69 residents in McDowell are quarantined.

Caldwell County saw 64 new cases of the virus since Friday for a total of 15-thousand-553. 9 in Caldwell are hospitalized.

Last Friday, the FDA approved emergency authorization of Pfizer’s vaccine for children ages 5 to 11.

The dose is a third of a regular dose and will be given in two doses three weeks apart.

The CDC’s advisory committee is scheduled to meet today to give their final approval.

Health departments throughout the Catawba Valley region will begin administering the children’s vaccine once state directions and orders have been received.