A 33-year-old Como man is being held without bond after investigators arrested him in connection with a shots-fired incident at Pinegate Apartments in Ahoskie that happened nearly a month earlier. Latroy Ramon Outlaw was taken into custody last Friday, becoming the second person charged in a case that began on Sept. 29 when gunfire erupted in the apartment complex parking lot.
According to WNCT, officers responded to a report of shots fired at Pinegate Apartments around 3:45 p.m. on Sept. 29, though WCTI12 reported the response time as around 3:47 p.m. that same day. Police said officers who arrived found evidence of a shooting in the apartment complex parking lot, per the station's report.
Detectives opened an investigation that eventually led patrol officers to arrest Outlaw on Oct. 23, the station noted. He now faces charges of assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill and possession of a firearm by a felon, the same two charges filed against the first suspect arrested in the case.
A Second Arrest Weeks After the First
Outlaw was not the first person charged in the shooting. The same account states that 25-year-old Rhamonte Tyrell Smith of Cofield was arrested on Oct. 15 in connection with the same shooting and faces the identical two charges. Smith was held without bond at the Hertford County Detention Center, with his first court appearance scheduled for Oct. 16, the station reported in a separate account.
Outlaw is likewise being held at the Hertford County Detention Center without bond, WNCT reported. His first court appearance was scheduled for Monday at the Hertford County Courthouse. The outcome of that appearance has not been reported.
Multiple Agencies Joined the Investigation
The case drew in more than just local police. The Down East Drug & Violent Crime Task Force, the Hertford County Sheriff's Office, and the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation assisted in the investigation, according to the same report.
Both men face the same underlying charges, which carry significant weight under North Carolina law. Possessing a firearm as a convicted felon is unlawful under North Carolina General Statutes, which bars anyone convicted of a felony from purchasing, owning, possessing, or having custody, care, or control of a firearm. Separately, a provision in the state's assault statute states that a person who assaults another with a deadly weapon, intends to kill, and inflicts serious injury is to be punished as a Class C felon.
As with any pending case, the charges against Outlaw and Smith remain allegations at this stage, and both men are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in court, the station's report noted.
