A routine shift at Kinston’s Sanderson Farms processing plant turned violent when a worker was assaulted and left with serious facial injuries, and police say the attack appears to have involved a pistol.
Kinston police arrested 32-year-old Tyler Simpson after the incident, which investigators say happened on Tuesday inside the poultry facility. Detectives said the victim’s wounds were consistent with being struck in the face with a handgun, and officers later recovered a firearm they believe was used in the assault.
In a post on Facebook, the Kinston Police Department said detectives with the investigations division identified Simpson as the suspect and tracked him down at Sanderson Farms last Friday. According to the post, officers served a search warrant on Simpson’s vehicle and recovered a firearm that investigators believe is tied to the assault.
Facility listings put the processing plant on Sanderson Way, and federal Environmental Protection Agency records list the Kinston campus at 2081 Sanderson Way. The injured worker was treated at UNC Health Lenoir’s emergency department in Kinston, according to the hospital’s site.
Detectives obtained arrest warrants charging Simpson with assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill inflicting serious injury, along with two counts of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, the department said. He was booked into the Lenoir County Jail and remains in custody while the case moves forward, according to the Kinston Police Department.
What the charges mean under state law
Under North Carolina law, assault with a deadly weapon that inflicts serious injury or is committed with intent to kill falls under N.C. Gen. Stat. § 14-32 and can be charged as a Class E or Class C felony, depending on the level of injury and intent. Possession of a firearm by a convicted felon is prohibited by § 14-415.1, which carries a separate felony penalty if prosecutors prove the case.
Police say the investigation is still active and detectives are asking anyone with information about the assault to contact the Kinston Police Department. Court filings and first appearances will be handled through the Lenoir County clerk of court as the case proceeds.
