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Two Teens Charged with Spring Hope Cemetery...

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Relatives were appalled by the damage.
SPRING HOPE — Two teenagers, one 14 and one15-years-old, have been charged with at least one felony each for vandalizing a Nash County cemetery over the weekend. More than 100headstones and graves were desecrated.

The cemetery is traditionally an African-American facility and thesuspected vandals are white, but authorities say the crime was notracially motivated. Police were talking to the teens and their parentsMonday afternoon. The arrest and charges were expected to follow.

For their part, the teens say they were simply walking through the areaand had nothing to do. They say the spent about three hours destroyingflowers, and headstones.

Allegedly, they used a stone or other heavy object to crack open amausoleum. That is considered desecration of a grave and is a felony.There was also a satanic symbol scratched into one of the headstones.

The vandalism took place at Meeks Cemetery, one of the oldestAfrican-American cemeteries in the area.

The teens live within a three-mile radius of Spring Lake. Authoritiessaid the pair have never been in any known trouble before.

Because some of the stones damaged weigh nearly 300 pounds and wouldbe extremely difficult for one person to move, law officers thoughtfrom the start that they would be looking for several culprits.

The vandalism left the community wondering not only who did it, but why. Carmen Vick, whose relatives are buried at Meeks, said nothing likethat has ever happened in the town before. "Not this drastic. Not likethis," she said, as she stood in the cemetery.

The president of the local NAACP chapter, Bill Newkirk, said those whodamage cemeteries should be punished as much as the law will allow.

The headstone from Newkirk's father's grave was taken up and used tosmash through the grave of someone else.

Peggy Blackman, many of whose forebears are buried here and whosefather was buried at Meeks in 1992, said she takes the destruction verypersonally. She said her father died violently and now he can't even restin peace. Her voice was distraught as she asked what the world is comingto, and declared that such violence doesn't make sense.

In the cold drizzle of an October Sunday morning, Nash Sheriff JimmyGrimes was among those surveying the damage, astonished and appalled bythe extent of what he saw. Grimes said in his 25-year career in lawenforcement he has sometimes seen one to two headstones turned over in acemetery, but never anything of this magnitude.

The Nash County Sheriff's office is offering a $3500 reward forinformation on the vandals. Anyone with further knowledge about the crimeis asked to call 919-459-4121.

A deputy who allegedly caught the two teens stealing a 4-wheel drivevehicle earlier in the evening was the first to suspect them in connectionwith the vandalism. It is likely the two will be taken into custody.

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