Chat led to murder, jurors told

[Powdered Toast Man]

Shelton DeAngelo Epps

Chat led to murder, jurors told

Epps, 23, is one of three men indicted in the 2004 kidnapping, robbery and killing of Owen.

Co-defendant Matthew Taylor, 18, was convicted in July and is serving a life sentence. The third defendant, Derrick A. Maiden, 19, testified against Taylor in exchange for a lesser murder charge.

The three were accused of luring Owen, a 23-year-old from Franklin County, to Durham on the prospect of sex. Once Owen arrived, prosecutors contend, the three men took him to Old Farm Park in northern Durham, shot him twice in the head and stole his car.

Owen had been missing for four days when his shirt
less body was discovered Feb. 21, 2004, face-down in a section of the Eno River in northern Durham.

In a sta

tement laced with grisly details, Epps initially confessed to police that he participated in Owen's murder, saying he repeatedly kicked Owen in the head after Taylor twice shot him.

A few days before Owen's body was discovered, a student at Northern High School was seen driving the car, witnesses said. It was later set on fire and deserted near downtown Durham, witnesses said.

He later attempted to recant the confession, however.

And defense lawyer Tyndall told jurors in an opening statement this week that the confession wasn't true. He said Epps made it under duress after police took him outside on a cold winter day without a jacket, then hounded him for six hours in a bleak interrogation room.

heraldsun.com

 

[Tyrone N. Butts]

Murder suspect sentenced to life in prison

DURHAM -- Shelton Deangelo Epps was sentenced Thursday to life in prison without parole for what the judge called a "sickeningly opportunistic and atrocious" crime: The February 2004 shooting, beating and drowning death of a Franklinton man whose car was stolen.

Epps received an additional six- to eight-year prison term for kidnapping the victim, 23-year-old Sean Ethan Owen.

Jurors deliberated about 2 1/2 hours in Durham County Superior Court on Wednesday before finding Epps guilty of the homicide and kidnapping, and also of stealing Owen's car at gunpoint.

"Mr. Epps, the jury has spoken," Judge Michael Morgan told the convicted man
Thursday.

The judge said it was tragic to send Epps, who was 21 at the time of t
nhe crimes, to prison for the rest of his days.

"But Mr. Epps, you're still alive," he added. "Mr. Owen is dead."

Evidence in Epps' nine-day trial indicated that he and two others lured Owen from Franklinton to Durham through a gay chat line, promising him homosexual sex but intending all along to take his car.

Owen was shot twice in the head, beaten and thrown into the Eno River at Old Farm City Park to drown.

"But for the aggressive assaults of [Epps], Sean Owen would perhaps still be alive," prosecutor Tracey Cline argued Thursday. "I believe he was the most aggressive as relates to the assaults on the victim."

A codefendant in the case, former Northern High School junior varsity football player Matthew Lawrence Taylor, was convicted o
f first-degree murder and related crimes last year and -- like Epps -- was sentenced to life in prison without parole plus six to eight years.

The third suspect, Derrick Ar
n
ess Maiden Jr., was given a plea bargain for the reduced charge of second-degree murder in exchange for testimony against Epps and Taylor. He told jurors that Epps was the triggerman, although Epps said in his confession it was Taylor.

Maiden was sentenced Thursday to nine to almost 12 years in prison.

Prosecutor Cline said that Maiden, unlike many criminal defendants, came from a good, middle-class, hard-working family that sent him to school every day and "tried to raise him right."

However, he became involved with a bad crowd and didn't anticipate that things might get out of hand, according to Cline.

"Teenagers need to be careful when they think they're only getting involved in
minor crime," she said. "In this case, Derrick Maiden thought he was just going to participate in a robbery. It turned out to be a murder. It messed up his whole life."

****************
These niggers deserve the rope.

T.
N.B
.

 

[Tyrone N. Butts]

Murder suspect sentenced to life in prison

DURHAM -- Shelton Deangelo Epps was sentenced Thursday to life in prison without parole for what the judge called a "sickeningly opportunistic and atrocious" crime: The February 2004 shooting, beating and drowning death of a Franklinton man whose car was stolen.

Epps received an additional six- to eight-year prison term for kidnapping the victim, 23-year-old Sean Ethan Owen.

Jurors deliberated about 2 1/2 hours in Durham County Superior Court on Wednesday before finding Epps guilty of the homicide and kidnapping, and also of stealing Owen's car at gunpoint.

"Mr. Epps, the jury has spoken," Judge Michael Morgan told the convicted man
Thursday.

The judge said it was tragic to send Epps, who was 21 at the time of t
nhe crimes, to prison for the rest of his days.

"But Mr. Epps, you're still alive," he added. "Mr. Owen is dead."

Evidence in Epps' nine-day trial indicated that he and two others lured Owen from Franklinton to Durham through a gay chat line, promising him homosexual sex but intending all along to take his car.

Owen was shot twice in the head, beaten and thrown into the Eno River at Old Farm City Park to drown.

"But for the aggressive assaults of [Epps], Sean Owen would perhaps still be alive," prosecutor Tracey Cline argued Thursday. "I believe he was the most aggressive as relates to the assaults on the victim."

A codefendant in the case, former Northern High School junior varsity football player Matthew Lawrence Taylor, was convicted o
f first-degree murder and related crimes last year and -- like Epps -- was sentenced to life in prison without parole plus six to eight years.

The third suspect, Derrick Ar
n
ess Maiden Jr., was given a plea bargain for the reduced charge of second-degree murder in exchange for testimony against Epps and Taylor. He told jurors that Epps was the triggerman, although Epps said in his confession it was Taylor.

Maiden was sentenced Thursday to nine to almost 12 years in prison.

Prosecutor Cline said that Maiden, unlike many criminal defendants, came from a good, middle-class, hard-working family that sent him to school every day and "tried to raise him right."

However, he became involved with a bad crowd and didn't anticipate that things might get out of hand, according to Cline.

"Teenagers need to be careful when they think they're only getting involved in
minor crime," she said. "In this case, Derrick Maiden thought he was just going to participate in a robbery. It turned out to be a murder. It messed up his whole life."

****************
These niggers deserve the rope.

T.
N.B
.