November 2021 | Page 19 of 19

Johnny Burr North Carolina Death Row

Johnny Burr was sentenced to death by the State of North Carolina for the murder of an infant. According to court documents Johnny Burr brought four month old Tarissa Susie O’Daniel into a hospital and told doctors that her seven year old brother had dropped her the night before. Doctors would discover the infant had broken bones, bruises and a multitude of injuries which would cause the little girl to die. Johnny Burr would be arrested, convicted and sentenced to death

Johnny Burr 2021 Information

Offender Number:	0058316
Inmate Status:	ACTIVE
Gender:	MALE
Race:	WHITE
Ethnic Group:	UNKNOWN
Birth Date:	07/20/1959
Age:	62
Current Location:	CENTRAL PRISON

Johnny Burr More News

here were bruises on her tiny arms and chin. Her eyes were rolling back in her head. She was unconscious.

That’s what emergency room doctors saw in the predawn hours of Aug. 25 when 4-month-old Tarissa Susie O’Daniel was carried into Alamance County Hospital.

Her mother, Lisa Porter O’Daniel, and her mother’s boyfriend, Johnny Burr, brought Tarissa in, telling doctors that she had been dropped and injured by her 8-year-old brother the previous day.

It seemed suspicious.

Today, Johnny Burr, 32, sits in the Alamance County Jail, charged with murder and facing the death penalty after Tarissa died Aug. 27. He maintains his innocence, relatives said.

Doctors say Tarissa’s skull was fractured, both arms and legs were broken and she had a dislocated collarbone and many bruises.

Deputies say how she was injured still is not completely clear.

Tarissa’s bones had been broken a week before she died, according to doctors. But to neighbors, Tarissa was playful and seemed uninjured just a day before she was carried into the emergency room.

The families of both Lisa O’Daniel and Johnny Burr say a lot of questions need answers. Most of all, they want to know what happened in the days and hours before Tarissa was injured.

Burr’s court-appointed attorney, Craig Thompson of Burlington, declined a request to interview Burr. But interviews with friends, relatives and neighbors give some insight into the baby’s last days.

Four months ago, Lisa O’Daniel, 26, and Johnny Burr didn’t even know each other.

On a hot day in June, she packed up her four children for an outing on Hidden Lake off N.C. 54 with her husband of six years, John O’Daniel. Her stepbrother, Donald Wade, went with them, bringing his wife, Rita, and their children.They were joined by Rita Wade’s friend, Johnny Burr.

Rita Wade had known Burr more than four years. A mechanic, Burr often worked on the Wades’ cars in his off hours as a supervisor at Alamance Foods in Burlington.

Lisa O’Daniel met Burr at the picnic. After a few more encounters, including a card game at the Wades’ home, Lisa left her husband. She moved her children to a mobile home off Jimmy Bowles Road in northern Alamance in late June.

The mobile home, in a hollow behind the Wades’ trailer, didn’t have electricity or running water.

Through July, Burr spent his nights after work getting the home into shape. Some nights, especially on weekends, Burr would stay with his estranged wife in Burlington, where he would see his young son

In early August, about two weeks before Tarissa died, Burr moved his belongings into the mobile home and settled in, Lisa O’Daniel said.

On Friday night, Aug. 23, the day before Tarissa was hospitalized, Lisa O’Daniel and the baby visited the Wades. According to the medical examiner who performed Tarissa’s autopsy, the baby’s legs and arms would have been broken as much as a week before that visit.

“She never acted like a baby that had been hurt,’ Lisa O’Daniel said. “At the times they were saying that her little bones were broke we could stand her up, hold her little hands and she would laugh.’

Rita Wade remembers that night. She also didn’t notice anything amiss as she stood Tarissa on her lap and the baby played.

“She took her hands and pulled my hair so hard that it hurt my head,’ Wade says. “And I didn’t think a baby could do that who had broken bones.’

“If she had cried with pain, she would have been taken to the hospital, but she didn’t,’ Wade added. “She played.’

David Manuel, a neighbor, said one of his relatives saw the baby that Friday, too.

“She was smiling,’ Manuel said, “and she looked good.’

That same night, Lisa O’Daniel said she and Burr argued about the amount of time he was spending at his estranged wife’s home.

“We got into it over that and I had told him to leave,’ she said, adding that Burr was to pack up the next morning.

The couple argued again Saturday, Aug. 24. Burr pushed Lisa O’Daniel onto their water bed, causing it to collapse, according to charges that would be filed against him later.

But the couple reconciled.

“We had done all our fussing and fighting and everything, and he acted like everything was fine,’ Lisa O’Daniel said.

About 6 p.m. Saturday, her 8-year-old son tripped while carrying Tarissa in the yard. The boy fell on top of her. Tarissa looked a bit red but otherwise appeared fine, her mother said.

About midnight, when her children were asleep, Lisa O’Daniel walked to the Wades’ mobile home to wash dishes.

“I wouldn’t have left her if he had been in a mad way or something. I wouldn’t have left any of my children down there,’ she said. Burr had never hit her kids but occasionally had spanked them, she said. And “he acted like everything was smoothed over.’

Burr stayed behind, tinkering about the home with his tools, according to his father, John H. Burr, and his uncle, Ken Chandler.

“He has told me what happened,’ Chandler says. “I asked him – and I beared down on Johnny – and Johnny told me that the only time he touched the baby was to move the baby out of the crib and put the baby in the swing in the house’ so a drill’s noise wouldn’t bother her.

Lisa O’Daniel returned about 45 minutes later, finding the baby in the swing with apparent bruises on her arms and chin, she says.

“Her little eyes weren’t normal, and I wanted to take her to the hospital,’ O’Daniel said. She was ready to call an ambulance when Johnny Burr agreed to drive her, she said.

They took Tarissa to the hospital, telling doctors that she had been dropped by her brother.

“It wasn’t going through my mind what anybody had done to her,’ O’Daniel said. The child’s welfare was foremost on her mind, she said.

Tarissa died at UNC Hospitals in Chapel Hill 2 1/2 days after she was hospitalized.

Burr was arrested the next morning at his wife’s home in Burlington.

“Our investigation did reveal that the older child did drop the baby,’ said Capt. Dan Qualls of the juvenile division in the sheriff’s department. “But that definitely was not the cause of death.’

Burr gave a statement to sheriff’s deputies, but Qualls would not discuss it, saying the details are part of the case against Burr.

“The statement he gave them was the same as he told me,’ Chandler, Burr’s uncle, said. “He says he is not guilty of anything.’

Johnny Burr isn’t blaming Lisa O’Daniel, his uncle added. “He really doesn’t know what happened.’

But Burr maintains that the most reasonable explanation for the head injury is that it happened when the baby was dropped, Chandler said.

“There is no way, I don’t care what anybody says, there is no way that this boy would hurt a young’un, and especially a small baby like that,’ Chandler adds. “This man is not no hardened criminal.’

The issue of Tarissa’s broken bones remain unresolved.

“We are not able to determine how or where her legs were broken,’ Capt. Qualls said.

Tarissa’s father, John O’Daniel of Burlington, and some of his relatives said they can’t understand how the broken limbs went unnoticed.

Qualls said new charges are not expected “unless something develops that we are unaware of.’

Lisa O’Daniel took a lie-detector test Tuesday and said she passed. Alamance County Sheriff Richard Frye would not discuss details of the test. But, he said, “We have no reason to doubt her story.’

She has custody of her three children – one from John O’Daniel and two from previous relationships – while the Alamance County Department of Social Services conducts an investigation into whether the children should remain with her.

The tension between Lisa O’Daniel’s family and her husband’s relatives has been severe, she said.

“I don’t think people should keep running their mouths about what I’ve done when I haven’t done anything. I loved her and I wouldn’t have done anything. People don’t know really what the hurt’s like until it has happened to them.

“You sit and hurt day after day and you want to touch that baby and you want to hold that baby and all you got to really look at is a picture of that baby,’ she says as she begins to weep. “I want her back and I know the bad part is I can’t have her back.’

https://greensboro.com/family-saw-no-signs-of-babys-abuse/article_229cd91d-f2fc-5147-922e-05fbfe36fa6f.html

Rayford Burkes North Carolina Death Row

Rayford Burkes was sentenced to death by the State of North Carolina for killing a man who testified against him. According to court documents Rayford Burkes was charged with the murder of a police officer however he was acquitted of all charges. Three months later Rayford Burkes would murder Timothy Morrison who was a State witness against him during the trial. Rayford Burkes would be arrested, convicted and sentenced to death

Rayford Burkes 2021 Information

Offender Number:	0057308
Inmate Status:	ACTIVE
Probation/Parole/Post Release Status:	INACTIVE
Gender:	MALE
Race:	BLACK/AFRICAN AMERICAN
Ethnic Group:	UNKNOWN
Birth Date:	02/22/1958
Age:	63
Current Location:	CENTRAL PRISON

Rayford Burkes More News

On 23 January 1992, Jesse Wilson was at his home in his kitchen with Freddie Teasley, Timothy Morrison (the victim), and Jimmy Knox. In the early afternoon, Wilson had consumed a pint of Wild Irish Rose wine, but no controlled substances. Morrison gave Teasley some money, and Teasley went to the liquor store and purchased a bottle of gin. When Teasley returned shortly thereafter with the bottle of gin, defendant and Robert Lee Griffin arrived at Wilson’s house. Morrison, Knox, and Teasley were sitting at the table in the kitchen. Wilson went to the door and allowed defendant and Griffin to enter the house. Wilson had known defendant for several years, and defendant had been to Wilson’s house on prior occasions. Neither defendant nor Griffin announced the purpose of their visit.

After Rayford Burkes entered the house, he proceeded to the kitchen, and when he asked for a drink of the gin, Morrison invited him to “go ahead and get you a drink.” According to Wilson, defendant drank “about half” of the bottle of gin. Rayford Burkes then told Morrison that he wanted to talk to him; and, at Wilson’s suggestion, defendant and Morrison stepped into an adjoining bedroom. After defendant and Morrison left the kitchen area, Wilson “heard a ruckus,” which he described as “some bumping around.” Wilson hollered that he “wasn’t going to have it in [his] house.” When defendant and Morrison came out of the bedroom, defendant said, “I am going to tell all you son-of-a-bitches something.” After Rayford Burkes entered the house, he proceeded to the kitchen, and when he asked for a drink of the gin, Morrison invited him to “go ahead and get you a drink.” According to Wilson, defendant drank “about half” of the bottle of gin. Rayford Burkes then told Morrison that he wanted to talk to him; and, at Wilson’s suggestion, defendant and Morrison stepped into an adjoining bedroom. After defendant and Morrison left the kitchen area, Wilson “heard a ruckus,” which he described as “some bumping around.” Wilson hollered that he “wasn’t going to have it in [his] house.” When defendant and Morrison came out of the bedroom, defendant said, “I am going to tell all you son-of-a-bitches something.” Defendant pointed at Morrison and said, “That man testified against me. He know [sic] I didn’t kill that man at the Busy Bee.” Defendant then left the house for “a minute or so.” Morrison sat down at the kitchen table and said, “[E]verything is all right.” Wilson asked Griffin to talk to defendant, and Griffin then exited the house through the front door.pointed at Morrison and said, “That man testified against me. He know [sic] I didn’t kill that man at the Busy Bee.” Defendant then left the house for “a minute or so.” Morrison sat down at the kitchen table and said, “[E]verything is all right.” Wilson asked Griffin to talk to defendant, and Griffin then exited the house through the front door.

Shortly thereafter, Rayford Burkes reentered the house and walked “straight through” to where Morrison was still seated at the kitchen table. According to Wilson, defendant said that if Morrison denied having testified against him in a previous trial, defendant would “knock his head off.” Morrison did not respond and did not say or do anything to provoke defendant. Defendant then hit Morrison, and Morrison got up from his seat. Defendant and Morrison started scuffling, and Wilson again admonished them that he “wasn’t going to have it in [his] house.” Wilson got between defendant and Morrison and separated them in order to stop the scuffle.

Morrison again sat down at the kitchen table. As Wilson was pushing against defendant with his shoulder, trying to get him to leave the house, defendant angrily told Morrison that “he wasn’t no good” and that Morrison should not have been a witness against him in the earlier murder case. Wilson saw defendant “jiggling” and reaching in his pocket “to get something out,” but Wilson could not determine whether the pocket was a pants pocket or a coat pocket. Wilson then heard three gunshots in rapid succession coming from “right over [the] top of [his] head.” Wilson testified that he did not see defendant or anyone else in the house with a handgun. According to Wilson, at the time of the gunshots, defendant was facing the *905 kitchen, and Morrison was seated at the kitchen table.

Following the gunshots, defendant exited through the front door. Wilson went to the front door and observed defendant leave in a “little blue car” being driven by a black female. Wilson then turned around to see if anyone had been struck by the bullets. He heard something fall in the kitchen and ran to the kitchen where he saw that Morrison had been shot. Teasley was standing at the entrance to the kitchen, and Knox was still in the kitchen. Morrison was lying on the kitchen floor on his side and had a small bloodstain on his shirt. Wilson touched Morrison’s arm to feel for a pulse, but detected none. Wilson could not determine whether Morrison was breathing. He saw what appeared to be blood flowing from Morrison’s mouth. Since Wilson did not have a telephone at his house, he then went outside and directed his neighbors to call for an ambulance. The emergency medical personnel and police arrived, and Wilson informed the police that defendant had shot Morrison.

The State also presented evidence at trial tending to show that defendant had threatened Morrison on several occasions prior to the shooting and that defendant’s brothers had made an intimidating visit to Morrison’s home in Lexington, North Carolina. The State further presented evidence that, because of these threats, Morrison was afraid of defendant and wanted to avoid him.

Defendant also presented evidence at trial. Defendant testified that he did not see Morrison in Wilson’s house on the day of the shooting. However, defendant testified that he did see Jimmy Knox and Johnny Elwood Pless seated in the kitchen with “crack pipes going.” According to defendant, he was at the front door when he heard gunshots. Defendant testified that he collided with Wilson as Wilson was trying to enter the front door while defendant was trying to exit. According to defendant, after he exited Wilson’s house, he ran to Juanita Keaton’s car and left with her. When Keaton asked him what had happened, he responded, “Some crazy m____ f____ in there [was] shooting. Let’s get the hell away from here.” Defendant denied that he had threatened Morrison after his acquittal for the murder of Calvin Royal at the Busy Bee Lounge. Defendant also denied asking his brothers to threaten Morrison and insisted that his brothers “wouldn’t do anything like that.” According to defendant, he had contacted some of the persons who testified against him in the trial for the murder of Calvin Royal and had asked them to testify in support of his civil rights lawsuit.

At trial, defendant also presented the testimony of three witnesses which tended to show that he was not the perpetrator of the crime charged. Dorothea Peggy Ramseur, a witness for the State in the previous trial for the murder of Calvin Royal, testified that, after defendant was acquitted, she encountered defendant at a liquor house. She further testified that defendant did not threaten her and that she even left the liquor house with him. Ramseur also testified that she went to Wilson’s house after Morrison was shot, and Wilson told her that he did not know what had happened during the shooting, that he was outside, and that the shooting was over when he reentered the house. Ramseur was in prison at the time she testified in the instant case.

J.D. Sturgis, Jr., testified at trial that he routinely visited Wilson’s house to sell or use drugs. After the Morrison shooting at Wilson’s house, Sturgis asked Wilson what happened. Wilson told Sturgis that he did not know what happened because everyone ran when the shooting occurred.

Johnny Elwood Pless testified that, on 23 January 1992, he was walking toward Wilson’s house to look for his nephew, Keith Neils, when he heard three gunshots and saw several people run out of Wilson’s house. According to Pless, defendant and Wilson were “about right at the door” when the second and third shots were fired.

https://law.justia.com/cases/north-carolina/supreme-court/1996/181a93-0.html

Nathan Bowie North Carolina Death Row

Nathan Bowie was sentenced to death by the State of North Carolina for a double murder. According to court documents Nathan Bowie and his uncle William Bowie would shoot and kill two people, Nelson Shuford and Calvin Wilson. Nathan Bowie would be arrested and sentenced to death

Nathan Bowie 2021 Information

Offender Number:	0039561
Inmate Status:	ACTIVE
Gender:	MALE
Race:	BLACK/AFRICAN AMERICAN
Ethnic Group:	UNKNOWN
Birth Date:	03/01/1971
Age:	50
Current Location:	CENTRAL PRISON

Nathan Bowie More News

On May 23, 1991, at around 11:00 p.m., the uncle, William Barfield Bowie (“William”), and aunt, Rochelle Bowie (“Rochelle”), of Nathan Wayne Bowie (“Bowie”) approached Nelson Shuford (“Shuford”) and Calvin Wilson (“Wilson”) in the street. An argument ensued between Rochelle and Shuford. Seeing acquaintances of Shuford’s gathering, William and Rochelle walked away from the argument. They then heard shots fired from behind them. Rochelle believed that Shuford and Wilson were shooting at her, but in fact Wilson was shooting into the air.

William and Rochelle returned to Rochelle’s residence, where William attempted to contact Bowie. Reaching Bowie’s mother by telephone, William left a message for Bowie, explaining what had transpired and asking Bowie to meet him at Rochelle’s residence as soon as possible. Shortly thereafter, Bowie, then twenty-years old, arrived, carrying a .45 firearm. Bowie explained, “I had a funny feeling something was going to go down so I brought the gun.” J.A. 579. William then retrieved a .25 firearm and checked it for bullets. Bowie was overheard telling William, “I know where he live[s]. He live[s] in Newton.” Id. (alteration in original). Shuford in fact resided in Newton.

Early the next morning, Bowie and William left Rochelle’s house. Around 8:00 a.m., Bowie was seen pounding on the front door of Shuford’s residence in Newton, calling for Shuford to come out, claiming to be “Neal” from Charlotte. Finding Shuford not at home, Bowie left, angry and cursing, and sped away in his truck. Three witnesses, including two who knew Bowie from high school, identified Bowie as the man banging on Shuford’s door.

Approximately two hours later, Shuford and Wilson were standing and socializing with four friends in the yard of Phillip Link. According to multiple eyewitnesses, Nathan Bowie and William appeared from behind a building and approached the group. Shuford asked, “[W]hat’s up, man[?]”, J.A. 580, then Bowie and William began firing, killing Shuford and Wilson.

Later forensics revealed that Shuford had been shot once in the chest by a large-caliber bullet, dying instantly. Wilson was shot in the chest with a small-caliber bullet and in the head with a large-caliber bullet. One of the gunshot wounds was delivered after Wilson was already on the ground suffering from the other. Wilson died several days later from the head wound. Neither victim was armed at the time of the shootings, though Wilson’s gun was some distance away in the trunk of his car.

Immediately after the killings, Nathan Bowie and William fled to Philadelphia, where they were soon apprehended and charged with the murders. Bowie and William were tried together, each for two counts of first-degree murder, in the Catawba County Superior Court in North Carolina. Bowie was represented at trial by two court-appointed attorneys: W. Thomas Portwood, Jr. (“Portwood”) and Mark Killian (“Killian”). Portwood had a general practice that included court-appointed criminal work. He had previously represented several capital defendants. It was later revealed that Portwood struggled with alcohol dependence during his representation of Bowie.¹ Killian was a young attorney from a firm that engaged primarily in civil matters and had no capital experience. Before trial, the two attorneys negotiated a plea offer for Bowie in which Bowie would have pleaded guilty to two counts of second-degree murder, for which he would have received life imprisonment but been spared a potential death sentence. Bowie declined the proffered plea agreement, electing instead to go to trial.

A number of witnesses testified at trial as to the essential facts surrounding the killings. For example, disinterested eyewitnesses testified to Nathan Bowie and William’s discussion and handling of firearms the night before the killings, to Bowie’s pounding on Shuford’s door, and to the killings themselves. In addition to the undisputed testimony of those witnesses, the government read into evidence two statements that are at issue in this appeal.

The government introduced a voluntary statement that codefendant William had given to police shortly after his arrest. In the statement, William explained that either Shuford or Wilson took jewelry from Rochelle’s house, which prompted the argument in the street the night before the murders. The next day, William continued, he met up with “someone” at Rochelle’s house.² J.A. 33. The two left together in search of Shuford and Wilson, whom they found in Link’s yard. William and Shuford started arguing. William stated that he heard a shot issue from behind him and saw Shuford fall to the ground. William explained that he panicked, pulled out his own firearm and fired two rounds in the direction of Shuford and Wilson before the gun jammed. He heard another shot, then began to run, hearing one final shot behind him as he escaped the scene. William insisted to police that he had brought his gun with him that morning only as a precaution, knowing that at least one of the men had been armed the night before, and that he did not intend to kill anyone. Bowie’s counsel made no objection to the admission of the statement, nor did they ask that a limiting instruction be provided to ensure the jury did not consider the statement to implicate Bowie.

The government also introduced a statement that Rochelle had provided to investigators on the night of the murders. Nathan Bowie objected to admission of the statement on the ground, inter alia, that it would violate his rights under the Confrontation Clause of the Sixth Amendment.³ The trial court overruled the objection and allowed the statement to be admitted under Rule 804 of the North Carolina Rules of Evidence, governing admission of statements made by unavailable witnesses.

Rochelle explained in her statement that she had argued with Shuford regarding the location of her missing jewelry. She confirmed the testimony of other witnesses that Nathan Bowie and William handled firearms that night at her house. She also stated that the duo drove off the next morning in Bowie’s truck, returning a few hours later in haste to take Rochelle and her children to stay with a relative. En route, either Bowie or William told her, “[W]e got them.” J.A. 30. Bowie and William told her they were going to Philadelphia.

In the face of the essentially undisputed testimony at trial that Nathan Bowie and William shot Shuford and Wilson, Bowie’s counsel focused their closing statements on the government’s supposed failure to prove premeditation, asking the jury to return verdicts for second-degree murder. The jury nevertheless found Bowie and William guilty of both counts of first-degree murder under the theory of acting in concert.

https://caselaw.findlaw.com/us-4th-circuit/1113349.html