State News

Man charged in I-40 death of trooper due in court

Edwardo Wong III, the suspect in the shooting death of Trooper David Shawn Blanton Jr., has a hearing scheduled for Friday.

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Edwardo Wong II
WAYNESVILLE, N.C. — The man charged with killing a state trooper on Interstate 40 in western North Carolina  last month was scheduled to appear in court for a hearing Friday.

Edwardo Wong III of Ormond Beach, Fla., is charged with first-degree murder in Trooper David Shawn Blanton Jr.'s death. The 37-year-old Wong also is charged with attempted first-degree murder of Haywood County sheriff's detective Bruce Warren.

The hearing was scheduled in Haywood County Superior Court.

The 24-year-old trooper was shot to death June 17 during a traffic stop on I- 40 near Canton.

Wong also is charged with three counts of possession of a gun by a felon, possession with the intent to sell marijuana and possession with the intent to sell the psychedelic drug ecstasy.

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