By EDWARD MARTIN SPECIAL TO THE GAZETTE
With what felt like a grizzly in his chest, Jim Benfield’s legs buckled, and he crashed onto his living room floor. A Mount Holly policeman who had helped first responders break down doors to rescue ailing 911 callers, he frantically fumbled with his cellphone.
“Dummy me, why didn’t I call the ambulance?” he shrugs. “I knew I was dying, and all I could think was that I wanted to speak to my wife one more time.”
As he stepped out of the shower, a clot blocked the left anterior descending artery of Benfield’s heart, triggering paroxysms of pain that he compares to the claws of an angry bear.
UNC Rex Healthcare tops Business North Carolina Best Hospitals list wraltechwire.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from wraltechwire.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
A Gaston County man faces a first-degree murder charge in the shooting death of his 72-year-old wife early Thursday morning at their home near the North Carolina/South Carolina line.
Gaston County Police were called to 4976 Willow Pond Lane around 6:54 a.m. Thursday in reference to a shooting.
When police arrived they found Judy Allred Helms suffering from a gunshot wound. She was transported to CaroMont Regional Medical Center in Gastonia, where she later died, according to police.
Police charged her husband, 71-year-old Rickey Allen Holdsclaw, of the same address, with first-degree murder. He was booked into Gaston County Jail at 11:49 a.m. Thursday without bond.
71-year-old man accused of killing 72-year-old wife in Gastonia
Gastonia man accused of killing his wife By WBTV Web Staff | March 4, 2021 at 3:10 PM EST - Updated March 4 at 6:12 PM
GASTONIA, N.C. (WBTV) - Police arrested a 71-year-old man who is accused of killing his 72-year-old wife in Gastonia Thursday morning.
Gaston County Police responded to Willow Pond Road in Gastonia for a shooting at 6:54 a.m.
Upon arrival, officers found 72-year-old Judy Allred Helms suffering from a gunshot wound.
She was taken to Caromont Regional Medical Center by Gaston Emergency Medical Services, where she was pronounced dead.
Helms’s husband, 71-year-old Rickey Allen Holdsclaw was taken into custody at the scene. He has been charged with one count of first-degree murder.