Father seeks justice for son slain in Knightdale's first homicide case

Kenny Edward "Kenny" Ring, 24, was attacked during a Jan. 9 robbery at the Domino's Pizza store in Knightdale where he worked. He died two days later.

"You never expect to bury your children, and you never expect any picture to be the last," Dan Ring told "NC Wanted," a program that airs on WRAZ Fox 50, which is owned by the parent company of WRAL News.

The Ring family moved from Pennsylvania to North Carolina in the mid 1990s. Kenny Ring graduated from Wake Forest-Rolesville High School in 2004.

Dan Ring recalled how proud he was when his son took a job at the new Domino's store in Knightdale.

"He had just started to understand what it was to hold a steady job and get a bank account and be responsible," Dan Ring said. "He was so happy with that."

Franchise owner Pat O'Leary said he saw Kenny Ring as a potential, up-and-coming leader.

"He'd just begun to run some shifts for us as assistant manager and was doing a really good job," O'Leary said.

On Jan. 9, about 40 minutes after midnight, a pizza delivery driver called Knightdale police received a call about a "man down." The driver had found Kenny Ring on the floor of the Domino's store in the Widewaters Commons Shopping Center.

Kenny Ring been beaten in the head and died Jan. 11 at WakeMed in Raleigh.

Investigators believe that between 12:15 a.m and 12:37 a.m., one or more people entered the store while the delivery driver was away, ambushed Kenny Ring in his office and then fled with an undisclosed amount of cash.

O'Leary said no one should have been able to get into the restaurant, because the policy was to lock all doors at 10 p.m. every night.

"We have magnetic locks on the doors. We're not sure what happened with the back door. I know when the police arrived, they saw that door was open," he said.

Detective Tracy Solomon said that his sole assignment is to solve Knightdale police's first homicide case. With assistance from the State Bureau of Investigation, every lead brings him closer to an arrest, he said.

Alibis have cleared some people, and investigators have identified some persons of interest, although not suspects, Solomon said.

"We think we know who's involved. We think we can put their car, their vehicle at the scene," he said.

A $27,000 reward has been offered for information leading to an arrest in the case. Anyone with information can call the Knightdale Public Safety Department at 919-217-2261.

Dan Ring said that until justice is served, he will keep his son's ashes in an urn on his bedroom dresser.

"One thing truly ironic is when we brought Kenny home from the hospital (as a baby), he weighed 6 pounds 8 ounces. When we brought him home (as ashes), he didn't weigh much more," Dan Ring said.