A North Carolina sheriff was moved to tears of joy as he reflected on the work that had gone into making an arrest in a homicide cold case that was more than 20 years old.
The Halifax County Police Department in North Carolina took to its Facebook page on July 21 to provide an image of the arrested suspect, 46-year-old Lewis Turner Jr.
Turner was arrested in connection with the death of Sherald Moneak Taylor, 23, who was found at her home in Weldon, North Carolina, by her 7-year-old daughter on August 16, 2002.
Turner has been charged with voluntary manslaughter and authorities have said he was known to Taylor and her family.
In a separate post over the weekend, Sheriff Tyree Davis remarked how he cried tears of joy at being able to arrest a suspect in connection with Taylor's death.
"I received the call that we were able to solve one of our cold case murders. A cold case from over 20 years ago. No one new about this information and we could not say anything until we notified the family first," Davis wrote as he recalled sitting in a meeting.
"However, I was instantly overcome with emotions and tears started to flow. As a member of the state commission, I was sitting upfront with the other board members and I tried to hold things together.
"I did so just by wiping the tears away but once I started sniffling I knew I needed to leave the room.
Yesterday morning, I was on the States Emergency Response Commission Board meeting in Raleigh with other top leaders from across the state when I received the call that we were able to solve one of...
"Folks, I can tell you that these were tears of joy. These were tears of excitement. Excitement not only for Ms. Taylor's family but also excitement for her friend, co-workers, schoolmates and anyone that she has ever crossed paths with.
"I was excited for the community because this is a beacon of hope for all those families that need closure too," he added.
Scott Hall, patrol captain of the Halifax County Sheriff's Office, outlined the reasoning behind the voluntary manslaughter charge.
"This was not a premeditated crime with malice. Based on the facts of the case and elements of the crime we charged accordingly," he told Newsweek.
"This is as much as I can report at this time."
In January, Davis hired Detective Sgt. Rich Somogyi to investigate a number of cold cases and assist the criminal investigations division in any new homicide or missing person cases, according to the Sheriff's Office Facebook post.
Somogyi was able to develop additional leads that resulted in Turner's arrest, according to the police.
"Lewis Turner was found to be staying in Northampton County. On Friday, July 21, 2023 Cpl. A. Holt, Deputy J. Snyder, and Deputy M. Way located Lewis Turner in Halifax, NC. and arrested Turner on the warrant," the post added.
"Turner was booked into the Halifax County Jail under a $250,000.00 Bond," it said.
Update, 07/25/23, 10:28 a.m. ET: This article has been updated with comment from the Halifax County Sheriff's Office.
