Among those sentences commuted was Lawrence Peterson, who was convicted of the 1995 fatal shooting of 67-year-old Jewel Braswell, who owned a general store in Richmond County. (File photo)
RICHMOND COUNTY — North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper announced Jan. 2 he has commuted the death sentences of 15 inmates to life in prison without parole, marking one of his final major actions before leaving office.
The decision follows an extensive review of clemency petitions from death row inmates. Cooper’s office received 89 petitions from the state’s 136 death row inmates.
“After thorough review, reflection, and prayer, I concluded that the death sentence imposed on these 15 people should be commuted, while ensuring they will spend the rest of their lives in prison,” Cooper said.
The governor’s office weighed multiple factors in each case, including the crime’s circumstances, input from prosecutors and victims’ families, the defendants’ prison conduct, and potential racial influences in the judicial process.
The commutations affect inmates convicted between 1993 and 2011, ranging in age from 38 to 67.
North Carolina hasn’t executed anyone since 2006 due to ongoing litigation over capital punishment. The state’s death row population will now stand at 121 inmates.
Among other factors considered were the defendants’ age and mental capacity at the time of their crimes, adequacy of legal representation, and whether plea agreements for lesser sentences were offered before trial.
The commutations represent one of Cooper’s last significant decisions as governor, as his term ends next month.
Nathan Bowie
Bowie, 53, was convicted in the 1991 double murder of Nelson Shuford, 24, and Calvin Wilson, 22, in Newton.
Court records say Bowie shot and killed the two victims after an argument between them and Bowie’s aunt and uncle. Bowie’s uncle, William Bowie, was also convicted of murder.
Nathan Bowie was sentenced to death after a 1993 trial. All of Nathan Bowie’s appeals over the years were denied. A 2006 order was filed denying Nathan Bowie’s appeals for the misuse of testimony from various witnesses and his belief that his attorney gave ineffective assistance during the sentencing phase.
Rayford Burke
Burke, 66, was convicted of the 1992 deadly shooting of Timothy Morrison in Iredell County.
Burke killed Morrison in January 1992 because the victim testified against him in an earlier murder case, according to court records. A jury found Burke guilty of murder and sentenced him to death in 1993. He was acquitted in the other murder case.
Burke’s appeals went nowhere until he sought relief under NC’s Racial Justice Act, arguing that Black jurors were removed for racial reasons to allow an all-white jury to convict him.
The NC Court of Appeals did vacate and remand this case back to the Iredell County Court in 2020 but records do not show what happened after that final proceeding.
Elrico Fowler
Fowler, 49, killed Bobby Richmond at a Charlotte motel on Dec. 31, 1995, according to court records.
Fowler and another suspect robbed the motel and shot two employees, including Richmond, who died at the scene.
Fowler was found guilty and sentenced to death in 1997. He appealed, arguing against the testimony of the surviving victim and witnesses but his efforts were denied.
Guy LeGrande
LeGrande, 65, was convicted of the 1993 murder of Ellen Munford, 26, in Albemarle during a 1996 trial. Munford’s husband, Tommy Munford, hired LeGrande to kill her, according to court records.
LeGrande demanded $10,000 from Tommy Munford for the deal, according to court records. Tommy Munford was looking to collect life insurance money for his wife’s death. Tommy Munford was sentenced to life in prison for the crime.
LeGrande was sentenced to death in a 1996 trial but several appeal attempts followed. A judge ruled that LeGrande was not competent to stand trial in 2008, according to the Stanly News & Press. However, no further records are available in LeGrande’s case.
Lawrence Peterson
Peterson, 55, was convicted of the 1995 fatal shooting of a woman who owned a general store in Richmond County.
Peterson shot and killed 67-year-old Jewel Braswell in July 1995 during a robbery Braswell wished Peterson a good journey before he shot her, according to court records.
A jury sentenced Peterson to death after a 1996 trial. Peterson appealed his death sentence, arguing that he lacked a substantial criminal history and that North Carolina’s death penalty requirements were too vague to fit his case. These appeals were denied.
William Robinson
Robinson, 41, was convicted for the 2006 murder of a trucking company worker in Stanly County.
Robinson killed Keith Crump and the company’s owner during a robbery attempt at a warehouse in November 2006.
Robinson was sentenced to death after a 2011 trial.
Christopher Roseboro
Roseboro, 60, was convicted for the 1992 rape and murder of Martha Edwards, 72, at a Gastonia apartment.
Roseboro and another suspect were robbing Martha Edwards’ apartment in Gastonia when she was later smothered to death with a pillow and raped.
A jury convicted Roseboro and sentenced him to death in a 1994 trial.
Appeals existed in Roseboro’s case as recently as 2019. Roseboro’s defense stated that his mental incompetence prohibits him from the death penalty.
Darrell Strickland
Strickland, 66, was convicted for the New Year’s Day 1995 murder of Henry Brown in Marshville.
Strickland shot and killed Brown after an argument, according to court records. He was sentenced to death after a 1993 trial.
Strickland was previously convicted of manslaughter after a deadly shooting in 1993. His appeal attempts continued into 2024 with little progress.
Other NC death row inmates commuted to life sentences
Hasson Bacote, 38, convicted in Johnston County in 2009
Iziah Barden, 67, convicted in Sampson County in 1999
Cerron Hooks, 46, convicted in Forsyth County in 2000
James Little, 38, convicted in Forsyth County in 2008
Robbie Locklear, 52, convicted in Robeson County in 1996
Timothy White, 47, convicted in Forsyth County in 2000
Vincent Wooten, 52, convicted in Pitt County in 1994