Perdue names judge DA for Rocky Mount, Wilson

Gov. Beverly Perdue on Wednesday named District Judge Robert Evans as district attorney for Nash, Edgecombe and Wilson counties.

District Attorney Howard Boney is retiring after 30 years in office, and Evans will take command as district attorney on Friday.

"Judge Evans has the respect and confidence of the public, law enforcement and attorneys in the Seventh District. The citizens of Edgecombe, Nash and Wilson counties will be well-served and should have every confidence that justice will be administered fairly by District Attorney Evans," Perdue said in a statement.

The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, which lobbied for a minority district attorney, applauded Perdue's choice.

"This is history unfolding before our eyes,” Yolanda Thigpen, Edgecombe County NAACP president, said in a statement, noting Evans will be the first black district attorney in eastern North Carolina.

"This is just the beginning of change in our justice system,” Alonzo Braggs, Wilson NAACP president, said in a statement. “Diversity brings strength, not weakness."

A Rocky Mount native, Evans has served as a district judge since 1999. He received a bachelor’s degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and a law degree from the University of Pennsylvania School of Law. From 1977 to 1999, he practiced law in Rocky Mount.

He is a former president of the Rocky Mount Area Chamber of Commerce, which named him Citizen of the Year in 2007.