Four charged in near-fatal Roanoke Rapids stabbing

A woman was beaten and stabbed more than 20 times on Jan. 2 in a home in the Edgewater subdivision northwest of Roanoke Rapids and left for dead.

The unidentified woman managed to crawl several hundred yards to a nearby home to get help. Authorities said Wednesday that she continues to recover from the attack.

Investigators with the Halifax County Sheriff's Office determined that four Virginia residents plotted to kill the woman. She knew her attackers, and the motive for the crime was related to drugs, investigators said, declining to elaborate.

The woman rode to North Carolina with two of the people charged in the case, Timothy Isaiah Moran and Toni Renee Draper, with the intention of visiting one of their relatives, according to investigators.

After the attack, Moran and Draper drove back to Emporia, Va., dumped the woman's car in a wooded area and destroyed other evidence of the crime, investigators said.

Moran, 35, is charged with attempted first-degree murder and was being held without bond Wednesday in the Halifax County jail.

Draper, 33, and Lauren Elizabeth Draper, 22, were each charged with attempted first-degree murder and felony conspiracy. Jerry Leonard Draper III, 34, was charged with accessory after the fact to attempted murder and conspiracy to commit murder.

All three Drapers were being held in the Halifax County jail under $500,000 bonds.