Two Suspects Arrested In Rocky Mount Homicide

ROCKY MOUNT, N.C. — Two men have been charged with shooting a Nashville man who was sitting in his car outside a Rocky Mount mobile home, authorities said Friday.

Police arrested Louis T. Speight, 21, and Travoy L. Garrett, 19, on first-degree murder charges in the death of 34-year-old Thomas Kirk Hawkins, who was shot and killed shortly after midnight Thursday on Mobile Drive in Cross Creek Mobile Home Park. Both were jailed under no bond.

Speight and Garrett allegedly pulled in behind Hawkins' Pontiac Grand Prix, which was parked outside a residence on the 2000 block of Mobile Drive. Garrett then allegedly walked up to Hawkins' car and tried to rob him, according to police. Police said a large amount of money was found on Hawkins when he arrived at the hospital.

Authorities said they weren't sure why Hawkins was in that neighborhood late at night. A Rocky Mount police officer was seriously wounded in the same area in September.

Witnesses initially identified Speight as the getaway driver after the shooting. Police said that Speight turned himself in to authorities around 3 a.m. Thursday, McCoy said. Authorities then received information on Garrett, who was arrested shortly before noon Thursday after police spotted him driving on N.C. 58 near Gold Rock.

Garrett spent 13 months in prison for a common law robbery conviction in 2004. He was released from custody in September. Garrett also was charged with assault and larceny in 2003, for which he received probation.

Hawkins, a truck driver who was supposed to start a new job this week, leaves behind four children and a wife.