A 23-year-old Greenville man is sitting in the Pitt County Detention Center without any chance of bond after investigators say he shot his own brother and sister following a brief argument. Escapontay Marshall Campbell now faces six separate criminal counts stemming from the alleged shooting, ranging from high-level felonies to misdemeanors, according to charging documents.
Warrants Detail Six Charges Tied to Family Shooting
Campbell was arrested by the Pitt County Sheriff's Office on Tuesday on allegations that he fired a handgun at his brother and sister after the argument escalated, according to warrants cited by WCTI. Investigators allege Campbell intended to kill both victims and seriously injured them in the process, per the same warrants. Magistrate orders reviewed by Fighting Crime News and Who's Wanted list Campbell's full charges as two counts of assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill inflicting serious injury, two counts of assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill, and two counts of misdemeanor assault with a deadly weapon.
That breakdown goes well beyond the general assault charges described in initial reports. The charging records show Campbell was scheduled for an initial court appearance in Pitt County District Court on Wednesday, the day both this case and his detention status were set to be formally reviewed.
Why Campbell Can't Post Bond
Campbell's continued detention without bond isn't a judge's discretionary call — it's the result of a state law that took the decision out of magistrates' hands entirely. Under North Carolina's Pretrial Integrity Act, magistrates are barred from setting release conditions for designated violent felonies, including the Class C assault charges Campbell faces, according to the Institute detailed by the UNC School of Government's North Carolina Criminal Law blog. That means Campbell must remain jailed until an elected district court judge conducts a formal bond hearing.
Ryan Willis Law PLLC notes the 2023 law shifted bond decisions on high-level violent offenses exclusively to district court judges, stripping magistrates of authority they previously held. Separately, North Carolina case law under State v. Thompson, as cited in Hoodline's earlier coverage of a similar Pitt County case, requires defendants held without bond in family-related dispute detentions to receive a bond hearing before a district court judge at the earliest reasonable opportunity to preserve due process.
What Campbell Is Facing If Convicted
The most serious counts against Campbell — assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill inflicting serious injury — are Class C felonies under North Carolina General Statute § 14-32(a). That classification carries a mandatory active prison sentence ranging from 44 to 231 months per count depending on prior criminal history, according to Thomas Amburgey Law. The two secondary felony counts, assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill without inflicting serious injury, are Class E felonies punishable by up to 88 months in prison, per Eustache Law.
The two remaining misdemeanor assault with a deadly weapon counts fall under Class A1, the state's highest misdemeanor level, carrying up to 150 days in jail apiece, according to Randall Law. Those charges apply when a weapon is displayed or used without documented intent to kill or cause serious injury, distinguishing them from the felony counts filed alongside them.
A Broader Pattern in Greenville
Campbell's arrest lands amid a string of recent violent-crime cases moving through the Pitt County court system. Hoodline reported this week on a Greenville father held without bond in a separate domestic case, and covered a Greenville woman charged with felony foot assault just days earlier, along with an August apartment shooting that left two people charged and an officer placed on leave.
Citywide numbers offer some context for the pattern of cases. The North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation's 2024 annual summary shows Greenville logged 3,085 total index crimes that year, including 9 homicides, 49 robberies, and 340 aggravated assaults. Notably, the bureau's data shows total violent crime in the city actually declined between 2023 and 2024, dropping from 511 violent offenses, including 409 aggravated assaults, to 417 violent offenses, including 340 aggravated assaults.
Campbell remains held at the Pitt County Detention Center, which serves as the primary booking and pretrial facility for law enforcement agencies across the county, holding arrestees until judicial release conditions are set. As with all pending criminal cases, the allegations against Campbell remain unproven, and his case will continue to move through Pitt County District Court following his initial appearance.
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