GARY ROBERTSON Associated Press RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — A North Carolina appeals court upheld the murder conviction Tuesday of a white man who fired a shotgun at an unarmed Black partygoer after reporting "hoodlums" in the neighborhood. A majority on a state Court of Appeals panel left intact the first-degree murder conviction of 43-year-old Chad Cameron Copley, who was sentenced to life in prison without parole. Copley killed 20-year-old Kourey Thomas in August 2016 as Thomas left a late-night gathering near the curb in front of Copley's house in Raleigh, according to authorities. Copley, who claimed self-defense, had complained about the noise and called 911, telling the operator he was "locked and loaded." Members of the group, who were leaving a nearby party and met outside to decide what to do next, yelled back at him.