ROCKINGHAM — A woman is accused by separate law enforcement agencies of destroying evidence and giving cocaine to jail inmate.
Detective Capt. Randy Dover with the Hamlet Police Department said Tara Nicole Williams, 34, of Walnut Lane in Rockingham, cleaned up the crime scene of an Aug. 18 shooting in which her boyfriend is a defendant. Warrants show she allegedly stole a 9mm shell casing that was relevant to the investigation.
Dover told the Daily Journal last month that 36-year Ricky Eugene Thomas was inside a Rosemont Avenue home when some type of altercation took place around 3:45 a.m. and he shot and wounded Kristopher Short.
Although Short — who suffered from a collapsed lung — was barely able to communicate, investigators say he indicated that he had been robbed as well. Police say Williams was also involved in the robbery, stealing approximately $80 worth of miscellaneous jewelry from Short and another man.
Thomas was charged with one felony count each of attempted first-degree murder, robbery with a dangerous weapon and possession of a stolen firearm. Investigators say the gun was stolen from Fayetteville. He is still in jail under a $200,000 secured bond.
Williams is charged with one felony count each of destroying, altering, concealing or tampering with evidence and altering, stealing or destroying criminal evidence, as well as a count of misdemeanor larceny.
She is also accused of passing a white T-shirt with cocaine sewn into the collar to Brandon Black, a weekend inmate in the Richmond County Jail on Aug. 23, according to warrants.
In that case, she is charged with possession of a controlled substance on prison or jail premises, providing drugs to an inmate and possession of cocaine, all felonies.
Williams is being held on a combined $13,000 bond with a court date set for Sept. 21.
Online records with the N.C. Department of Public Safety Division of Adult Correction show Williams has no prior convictions.
All defendants facing criminal charges are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.