2 Won't Face Death Penalty in Girl's Death

Carthage, N.C. — At least two of five teens charged in the September shooting death of a 12-year-old Moore County girl won't face the death penalty if convicted, authorities said Wednesday.

Emily Elizabeth Haddock was at home sick on Sept. 21 when someone broke into her Marks Road home outside Vass and shot her several times with a .22-caliber handgun, authorities said. Investigators said they believe the intruders intended to burglarize the house, but were surprised to find the girl at home.

Sherrod Nicholas Harrison, 20, Michael Graham Currie, 18, Van Roger Smith Jr., 16, and Perry Ross Schiro, 19, all of Cameron, and Ryan Jermar White, 18, of Sanford, have been indicted on charges of murder and breaking and entering in the case.

Moore County prosecutors said they don't plan to pursue a capital case against White because investigators said he wasn't in the home at the time of the slaying.

Smith will be tried as an adult in the case, but he can't face the possibility of a death sentence because of his age, authorities said.

Prosecutors said they will seek the death penalty against Harrison and Currie. They haven't decided yet how to proceed against Schiro.

53 Comments

WRAL.com welcomes your comments on this story. All comments are moderated prior to publication based on our posting guidelines. Please review them prior to posting and if your message is not approved.

VIEW ALL 53 COMMENTS

This story is closed for comments. Comments on WRAL.com news stories are accepted and moderated between the hours of 8 a.m. and 8 p.m. Monday through Friday.

Latest Comments

I do not want my tax dollars supporting these animals for the rest of their lives. I agree, they could have just left the house when they realized someone was home but they didn't which shows a clear intent to cause harm to her. I can't imagine her fear and pain. I could care less how old these perps are - they need to GO!

CoCo
January 25, 2008 6:26 p.m.

Amen shoot them all!!! They could have just left the house when they realized she was there. They didn't have to hurt her.

watts
January 25, 2008 5:28 p.m.

I think that the fact they took a gun with them shows premeditation that they had considered the fact they'd have to shoot someone. But, I'm smart enough to know that it only takes 1 person to hang the jury.

JAT
January 25, 2008 3:54 p.m.

Why is race mentioned in these comments? Apparently many of you have forgotten a lot of history about murder in this state and how many courts failed to convict despite overwhelming evidence. However, I agree the death penalty was written for this type of crime. I am a father, and I feel the penalty is certainly warranted in this case.

BTW "hooligan" - It's time for you to grow up. All I can say is that a clean sheet only makes you a better target. An horrific crime has been committed against an innocent victim, and it's time that people be held accountable for their crimes. We already know there has been a history of people getting away with like crimes and many of them were committed by people in "clean" sheets.