Suspect in two Halifax County slayings arrested

Herman Lee Edwards, 29, of 119 Madison St., was arrested in the parking lot of the Executive Inn in Rocky Mount. 

Edwards faces two counts of first-degree murder in the shooting deaths of Brandon Tyrone Peterson, 29, in the 1000 block of Maple Street Extension in Weldon on Sept. 18 and Lorenzo Tann Jr., 23, outside a home on Madison Street in Roanoke Rapids on Sept. 21.

Investigators with the Halifax County Sheriff's Office said Edwards had been dressing as a woman to avoid arrest. Agents with the Roanoke Rapids and Rocky Mount police departments, the Nash County Sheriff's Office and State Bureau of Investigation helped track him down.

"Because of their dedication and countless hours put in on these efforts, we were able to get this man into custody without anyone else getting hurt," Capt. L.J. Burch, with the Halifax County Sheriff's Office, said. "I am proud to serve with these officers."

Edwards had been on a crime spree in Roanoke Rapids and Weldon since March, investigators said.

He was also charged with breaking and entering, larceny, possession of stolen goods, robbery with a dangerous weapon, assault with a deadly weapon, felony possession of cocaine, possession of drug paraphernalia and possession with intent to sell and deliver cocaine.

Edwards was held without bond at the Halifax County jail. His next court date is Oct. 12.

Three other men have been charged in connection with Peterson's death: Kevin Joseph Braxton, 26, Adrianne Kay Daniel, 26, and Daniel Staime, 22. Braxton and Daniel are being held in the Halifax County jail, while Staime is being held in Nassau County, N.Y., without bond.

Court records show that Edwards was charged with attempted murder in 2008 but convicted of attempted possession of a firearm by a felon. He served six months in jail.

He also has convictions for assault with a deadly weapon, attempted assault with a deadly weapon, possession of a weapon on campus and wanton injury to personal property, according to state Department of Correction records. He served probation for those convictions.