Fourth suspect arrested in Moore County robbery, shooting

Paris Yusef Mack, 17, of 915 Richards St. in Southern Pines, was charged Tuesday as the suspected getaway driver who fled from the robbery at Exxon Short Stop Food Mart in Lakeview.

Investigators said that late Monday, Angus Gene Kelly, 78, drove up to the store to see three men robbing his wife, 75-year-old store clerk Grace Kelly, at gunpoint. He fired a shotgun through the window, striking one man in the face. Investigators said the getaway driver fled, and two men inside the store used Grace Kelly as a shield, prompting an exchange of gunfire in which Angus and Grace Kelly were shot.

Grace Kelly was treated Monday night, while Angus Kelly was in serious condition at UNC Hospitals in Chapel Hill late Tuesday.

The injured suspect – Randy Joel Williams, 17, of Southern Pines – was in critical condition at Moore Regional Hospital.

Mack was placed in the Moore County Detention Center, along with suspects Leroy Richard Medley, 20, of Southern Pines, and Demarcus James Dennison, 18, of Polkton. They were given separate $250,000 bonds, and all face two counts of assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill and one count each of first-degree kidnapping and armed robbery.

Carter said the men might have committed a series of armed robberies from Moore County to Charlotte over the past several months.

Three of the suspects have criminal records in Moore County, according to state Department of Correction records.

DOC records show that Mack served a 2-month sentence earlier this year for violating his probation stemming from a 2009 conviction for possession of drugs with intent to sell. Williams was on probation for 2010 and 2009 larceny convictions, including one felony, and Medley has 2007 convictions for misdemeanor larceny and wanton injury to personal property.

Family friend Billy Chavis said Angus Angus Kelly waited in the parking lot whenever Grace Kelly closed the store, where she's worked for nearly 30 years.

"He comes every time she closes, just to protect her. It's his wife," Chavis said.

More than 50 people held a vigil at the convenience store Tuesday night to support the Kellys and raise money for their medical care.

"Remind each other, encourage each other to give. This is going to be a tough battle for Gene and Grace," vigil organizer and friend Mark Metcalf said, standing on the bumper of a Ford pickup to address the crowd.

Vigil participants said the Kellys are a fixture of the communities of Lakeview and Vass – "real good country people," Chavis called them.

Angus Kelly is a farmer who sells eggs and produce, Chavis said. Many at the vigil recalled Grace Kelly as a mother figure, who helped others in times of trouble and busted underage people who wanted to get into trouble by buying beer.

"We're close-knit folks," said Tonya Keith, and the vigil shows "that we believe in one another, that we're close and we have a strong spiritual backing."