Cary man appears in court for nurse's shooting death
A Cary man appeared in a Wake County courtroom Monday for the first time since being charged over the weekend for the shooting death of a pediatric home health care nurse working in the area.
Posted — UpdatedPolice arrested Daniel Scott Remington, 36, of 501 Gooseneck Drive, in Fayetteville Saturday night on a charge of murder in the death of Wendy Jean Johnson of Sanford.
Investigators say Johnson was shot outside an apartment in the 200 block of Hyde Park Court in Cary around 11 p.m. Friday. She died early Saturday at Duke University Hospital in Durham.
Authorities haven't commented further on the shooting, but several people who called 911 Friday night reported hearing a single gunshot followed by a woman screaming for help.
"I just heard a girl yelling for someone to get away, to stop," one caller said. "Then, (I) heard a pop, and then there was more yelling."
Another caller said the woman had been shot in the back.
Investigators also haven't offered a possible motive for the shooting or said how Johnson and Remington might have known each other.
Friends of the 58-year-old Johnson, however, said Monday that they do not believe she knew him.
Remington's court appearance Monday afternoon was brief. He was granted a public defender and ordered held in the Wake County Detention Center without bond.
According to the North Carolina Department of Public Safety, Remington spent six years in prison before being released in 2010.
His criminal record dates to 1995 and includes numerous convictions on charges of assault on a female, larceny, breaking and entering, credit card theft and attempted first-degree burglary.
He also has several pending drug charges in Lee and Cumberland counties.
Meanwhile Monday, those who knew Johnson expressed grief and disbelief over her death.
"She was just a great person," said Jennifer Broderick, associate director of Bayada Home Health Care, the Raleigh-based company for which Johnson worked. "She was the nurse that every family wanted to have come to their door. Every client made such good progress when Wendy was around."
Broderick said Johnson had two adult children and several grandchildren and that she had recently adopted a 13-year-old boy whom she met while on a mission trip to Jamaica.
Neighbor Ernestine Cruz said Johnson was always on the go and full of energy who always put others before her own needs.
"She was just a beautiful person," Cruz said.
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