Just a few days before the trial was scheduled to begin, a defendant from Indiana made a shocking announcement and decided to take a guilty plea.
On Friday afternoon, Jamie Weaks, now 24, pled guilty in Onslow County Superior Court to 2nd degree murder in the shooting death of 41-year-old Felicia Parker at the Budget Inn on July 31, 2018. Weaks is sentenced to 264 months to 329 months (22-27 years) in the NC Department of Adult Corrections.
The trial was scheduled to begin Monday, March 8.
In an email to The Daily News from DA Ernie Lee, Weaks went to the hotel room looking for Enoch Parker, who had cheated Weak s sister in a drug deal earlier in the day. Felicia Parker was the sole occupant at the time of the shooting when Weaks cames to the hotel and knocked on the door. When (Felicia) Parker didn t open the door, Weaks fired a 9 mm handgun three times into the room.
Ex-Marine who killed wife is shot to death by Pa. police as he fatally beats transgender woman
Updated Feb 23, 2021;
By Trevor Dunnell, The Daily News, Jacksonville, N.C. (TNS)
A former Camp Lejeune Marine who was convicted in 2014 for the shooting death of his wife was gunned down by police in Pennsylvania after officers say they witnessed him beating a transgender woman, who later died as a result of her injuries.
At about 11 a.m. Friday, New Wilmington police were called to a home on South New Castle Street. When officers arrived, they found 33-year-old Juan Carter Hernandez beating 24-year-old Chyna Carrillo with a blunt object. When officers ordered Hernandez to stop, he ignored them and continued beating her, according to Pennsylvania State Police.
A former Camp Lejeune Marine was killed in Pennsylvania after police say they arrived to the scene where he was assaulting a transgender woman and refused to stop. He was convicted in 2014 for the murder of his wife in Onslow.
What was scheduled to take place in February 2021 has now been forced into limbo as the Mariah Woods homicide trial was postponed.
Onslow County District Attorney Ernie Lee said in an email to The Daily News that due to COVID-19 issues, the trial is being rescheduled.
The Daily News has reached out to Lee along with Onslow County Superior Court Judge Charles Henry for clarification as to when the trial could be rescheduled. Originally, the trial was scheduled for Feb. 22, The Daily News previously reported.
Judge Henry s office explained there is not a set date and they are waiting for things to clear up. They are hoping to start jury trials back up on March 1.