Residents in the small North Carolina town of Farmville may be finding some relief in the arrest of four suspects for the senseless killing of three young convenience store employees during an armed robbery. Two days after the bloody shootings authorities have arrested two men and a juvenile who were caught on video tape shooting the store owner's son and two of his cousins.Three of the suspects lived in Farmville, population 4,500, and the other was from nearby Bethel, N.C.
Antwan Andre Anthony (left in photo), 29, of Bethel; Xavier Montel Shamble (right), 19, of Farmville; and an unnamed juvenile from Farmville were arrested late Tuesday and charged early Wednesday with three counts of murder, first-degree kidnapping, robbery and possession of a firearm by a felon.
Extensive Criminal Histories
A fourth suspect, Willie Whitehead Jr., 23, was arrested late Wednesday afternoon. All three of the adult suspects have previous criminal records, investigators said. Anthony has an assault conviction, Whitehead was convicted of armed robbery and Shamble recently served time for possession of a weapon with an altered ID.
Police credited tips received from the community through CrimeStoppers with help in solving the crime.
The victims were Nabil Nasser Saeed Al'mogannahi, 26; Gaber Alawi, 24; and Mokbel Mohamed Almujanhi, 16. The victims' families were all immigrants from Yemen.
'Very Disturbing' Video
Investigators said the store surveillance video showed that the three cousins did not resist or give the robbers any reason to shoot them.
"There wasn't anything they could have done differently," said Sheriff's spokesperson Christy Wallace.
The robbers' faces were covered or obscured in the video tape, Wallace told reporters, but the camera captured the "very disturbing" graphic details of the murders.
A family spokesperson said no one in the family knew any of the robbers.
Pitt County Sheriff Neil Elks said CrimeStoppers reward money will be distributed to several people.
See Also:
Three Suspects Arrested in Triple Killing-Robbery at Rural Store
Free Newsletter:
Get the Crime & Punishment Newsletter
More Crime News:
Top Stories
Current Investigations and Trials
Unsolved Cases
Photos: Mug Shots
Comments