Attorney General Jeff Jackson Secures Convictions in Murder, Attempted Murder, and Sex Offense Cases Across North Carolina

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Thursday, September 24, 2026
Contact: comms@ncdoj.gov
919-538-2809

RALEIGH — Attorney General Jeff Jackson and the North Carolina Department of Justice secured criminal convictions in 23 Court of Appeals opinions released Sept. 16, including murder cases out of Pender, Wilson, and Guilford counties, an attempted murder case out of Rockingham County, a failure to register case out of Pitt County, and a sex offense case out of Wake County.

The convictions were originally argued and obtained in trial courts by district attorneys. The North Carolina Department of Justice is responsible for defending criminal convictions obtained by local district attorneys when the cases are heard in the state’s appellate courts.

“When someone who is lawfully convicted of a crime tries to have that conviction overturned, it’s my job to continue to uphold justice and keep dangerous defendants off our streets,” said Attorney General Jeff Jackson. “My office will continue working with our law enforcement partners to keep the people of North Carolina safe.”

In State v. Newman, the Court of Appeals upheld Donald Ray Newman’s convictions of attempted first-degree murder, first-degree burglary, and assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill inflicting serious injury. The case was originally tried by the office of Rockingham County District Attorney Kathryn Gregg. In 2021, the victim, Newman’s wife, told him she wanted a divorce, and he responded by saying, “you’re going to end up like the rest of them.” Newman had previously told the victim about a rumor that he killed his previous wives, although there was no evidence to prove it. Late one evening in October 2021, Newman went to the victim’s home, attacked her, and shot her. She ran to a neighbor’s house for help, and EMS took her to the hospital. Newman was later arrested. He was sentenced to three consecutive terms of 180 to 228 months’ imprisonment, 73 to 100 months’ imprisonment, and 83 to 112 months’ imprisonment.

In State v. Miller, the Court of Appeals upheld Michael Legage Miller Jr.’s convictions of three counts of first-degree murder. The case was originally tried by the office of Pender County District Attorney Jason Smith. In November 2020, the Pender County Sheriff’s Office was called to a home, and an officer found a woman who was seven months pregnant suffering from a gunshot wound. She later died from her injuries. A detective then found another body in the woods. An autopsy report found both victims died of gunshot wounds. In May 2021, a tip pointed law enforcement to Miller, and they obtained a warrant for his arrest. Miller was sentenced to three consecutive life sentences without the possibility of parole.

In State v. Horne, the Court of Appeals upheld Adrian Tynrell Horne’s convictions of two counts of first-degree murder, two counts of attempted first-degree murder, second-degree kidnapping, and other charges. The case was originally tried by the office of Wilson County District Attorney Jeffrey Marsigli. In August 2021, Horne was in a relationship with a woman. After talking to the woman on the phone one day, her daughter believed Horne was “doing something” to the woman. The daughter – along with the woman’s son, his girlfriend, and their baby – went to the woman’s home. The woman got into the car with the group, and Horne shot at the car. The woman and her son died at the scene. The daughter and the son’s girlfriend were injured. Horne eventually drove off in the car with the woman’s body and the baby in the backseat. Horne was sentenced to life without parole for each of the two first-degree murder convictions, 207 to 261 months for each of the two attempted first-degree murder convictions, 33 to 52 months for second-degree kidnapping, 96 to 128 months for each of the two discharging a weapon into occupied property resulting in serious bodily injury convictions, and 33 to 52 months for discharging a weapon into occupied property.

In State v. Yizrayl, the Court of Appeals upheld Heph’zi-Bah Beulah Yizrayl’s convictions of 15 counts of failure to register as a sex offender. The case was originally tried by the office of Pitt County District Attorney Faris Dixon. Yizrayl was convicted of attempted second-degree rape in Pitt County in 2001 in an earlier case, when his name was Terrence Dwayne Wooden, and was sentenced to prison and required to register as a sex offender upon his release. While in prison, he changed his name from Terrence Dwayne Wooden to Heph’zi-Bah Beulah Yizrayl. Upon his release in 2013, he used the name Terrence Dwayne Wooden on the first required sex offender change of information form and did not disclose any other name on at least nine subsequent change of information forms. He also signed other forms under his old name.

In State v. Saunders, the Court of Appeals upheld Quamell Saunders’ conviction of second-degree forcible sexual offense and first-degree kidnapping. The case was originally tried by the office of Wake County District Attorney Lorrin Freeman. In March 2021, the victim was at a bus stop outside a Walmart in Raleigh when surveillance footage showed a man dragging her to a wooded area. After the incident, the victim asked a bus driver to call 911. She told a paramedic that she had been raped. DNA evidence pointed to Saunders. A forensic scientist with the State Crime Lab conducted the DNA testing and testified as an expert witness at trial. Saunders was sentenced to 110 to 192 months for the sexual offense and 38 to 58 months for kidnapping.

In State v. Little, the Court of Appeals upheld Aaron Lamont Little Jr.’s convictions of first-degree murder, discharging a firearm into an occupied vehicle inflicting serious bodily injury, and two counts of assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill. The case was originally tried by the office of Guilford County District Attorney Avery Crump. In June 2020, Little’s group and two women got into a dispute in a motel parking lot over a purse left in the car driven by Little’s group. As the vehicles pulled out of the parking lot, Little fired five shots at the vehicle directly behind him, striking and killing a person in the second car. The women involved in the dispute and others were in a third vehicle behind the car Little was in. Little testified that he believed the people from the parking lot dispute were in the vehicle directly behind him. He was sentenced to life imprisonment without parole for the murder, 73 to 100 months for the discharging offense, and two consecutive terms of 25 to 42 months for the assaults.

You can read more about other criminal convictions the North Carolina Department of Justice has successfully defended here.

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