Man pleads guilty to robbery in soldier's slaying

Roy Lee Hawk, 22, of Vaughn Road in Fayetteville, pleaded guilty to four counts of robbery with a dangerous weapon and one count of conspiracy to commit robbery. He will be sentenced later, when he faces up to 84 years in prison.

Spc. Sergio Sanchez, 22, of Anniston, Ala., was just back from a tour of duty in Iraq when he was killed outside Sharky's Cabaret on April 12, 2008.

Witnesses said Sanchez was outside the club, talking on his cell phone, when he came upon several men robbing three other soldiers in a parking lot off Blue Street. They said a gunman approached Sanchez from behind and shot him in the neck at close range.

Fayetteville police detectives followed up leads in Cumberland, Lee and Harnett counties for weeks until a Crime Stoppers tip led them to four men suspected of committing robberies in Sampson County.

James Anthony Carr, 26, of David Park Lane in Roseboro, Jeriamiah Markee Clark, 18, of Claudes Drag Road in Roseboro, and Terrance L. Roberts, 20, of Woody Pine Lane in Salemberg, also have been charged in the case.

Carr is believed to be the gunman who shot Sanchez, and prosecutors plan to seek the death penalty against him.