By NC WANTED Staff

Posted: Jan. 4, 2010
Updated: Jan. 4, 2010

ALL COUNTIES — To celebrate the New Year, NC Wanted is looking back at its top crime news stories for 2009. In 2010, remember: your tips can protect the community and the quality of life we hold dear in North Carolina.

January 27, 2009: Gary Parham Captured

One of our "worst of the worst" Target 20 fugitives was arrested in Miami, Florida on January 27, 2009, following an informant providing Parham's whereabouts to the NC Wanted tip hotline and the Miami-Dade police department. The informant, who knew Parham as Jaylin Hart, learned of his criminal history when she found the NC Wanted web site.

Parham, 29, was wanted for first-degree murder, two counts of armed robbery and two counts of sexual assault through Prince George’s County, Maryland, near Washington, D.C. He has ties to the Fayetteville area and authorities believed he may have been hiding out in North Carolina.

February 3, 2009: Murder Suspect Charged in Online Sex Sting

Andrew Dalzell, who is the prime suspect in the 1997 disappearance of Debbie Key of Carrboro, was arrested and pleaded guilty to charges that he seduced an underage girl in an online chat room. Undercover officers posing as an 11-year-old girl lured him to Buncombe County, where he was arrested.

In 2004, Dalzell was charged with murdering Debbie Key, although her body has never been found. The two were acquaintances, and Dalzell was reportedly the last person to see Key before her disappearance. Police said Dalzell confessed to the crime. A judge threw out the confession in 2005, ruling that officers crossed the line by showing him bogus court documents to obtain it.

March 29, 2009: Heroic Officer Stops Nursing Home Massacre

Robert Stewart, 45, was arrested and charged with 8 counts of first-degree murder after he stormed the Pinelake Health and Rehab Center in Carthage in Moore County. He killed 8 and wounded 3 in the massacre.

Carthage police officer Justin Garner, 25, stopped the massacre by taking Stewart down with a single shot to the chest. Stewart was treated for his injuries and is awaiting trial. He faces the death penalty in the case.

Garner said his heroic actions were just a part of the job. "I did what I had to do," he told WRAL News.

May 12, 2009: Abaroa's Second Wife Speaks Out

NC Wanted sat down for an exclusive interview with the second wife of Raven Abaroa, who is a person of interest in the 2005 stabbing death of his pregnant wife Janet. Vanessa Pond flew in from Utah to provide intimate details of her marriage to Raven, details that could aid the investigation into Janet's murder. Since we broke the story, Pond has granted interviews to national media outlets, including ABC Primetime.

During their short marriage, Pond told NC Wanted, Raven was abusive both physically and mentally, profoundly deceitful, and prone to sudden, intense mood swings. They met in early December of 2007 and were engaged six months later, on Mother’s Day. As the wedding approached, Vanessa said, Raven’s behavior shifted. He became violent.

“The day of my bridal shower was the first time. He threw me down and he pushed me around that day,” Vanessa told NC WANTED. They separated after two and a half months of marriage.

July 27, 2009: Seven Arrested in Raleigh for Terrorist Conspiracy

Daniel Patrick Boyd, 39, Hysen Sherifi, 24, Anes Subasic, 33, Zakariya Boyd, 20, Dylan Boyd, 22, Mohammad Omar Aly Hassan, 22, and Ziyad Yaghi, 21, have been charged with conspiring to provide material support to terrorists and conspiring to murder, kidnap and injure persons abroad, the Justice Department announced in July.

According to the indictment, Daniel Boyd, also known as "Saifullah," and the other defendants conspired to provide resources to terrorists from roughly November 2006 through at least July 2009.

Daniel Boyd, of 134 Lakeside Circle in Willow Spring, trained at terrorist camps in Pakistan and Afghanistan between 1989 and 1992 before returning to the United States, the indictment stated.

September 1, 2009: Arrest Made in Edgecombe County Bodies Probe

Antwan Maurice Pittman, 31, was charged with one count of first degree murder in the death of Taraha Nicholson. Nicholson is one of six  murdered women who was found in the same rural area of Edgecombe County.

Since 2005, authorities have recovered the remains of Jarniece Latonya Hargrove, 31, Taraha Shenice Nicholson, 28, Melody LaShae Wiggins, 29, Ernestine Battle, 50, Elizabeth Smallwood, 33, and Jackie Nikelia Thorpe, 35.

Despite similarities in the victims' backgrounds and the proximity of their remains, authorities have not confirmed whether the cases are related. Rampant media speculation has suggested that Pittman may be a serial killer. 

Three other women with similar descriptions and backgrounds are missing from Rocky Mount. They are: Christine Marie Boone, Renee Joyce Durham and Yolanda Renee Lancaster.

November 10, 2009: Shaniya Davis Reported Missing

Five-year-old Shaniya Davis was reported missing from her Fayetteville home by her mother on November 10, 2009. Her disappearance launched a massive search, finally leading to the discovery of her remains in rural Lee County. She was abducted, raped and killed on the same day.

Mario Andrette McNeill, 29, was charged with first-degree murder and first-degree rape of a child. Shaniya's mother, Antoinette Nicole Davis, 25, was arrested on accusations that she prostituted her daughter.

Arrest warrants state that Davis "knowingly provide(d) Shaniya Davis with the intent that she be held in sexual servitude" and she "permit(ted) an act of prostitution." Various media reports have suggested that the girl may have been traded to pay a drug debt.

November 18, 2009: Kelly Morris Remains Found, Husband Arrested

The case of missing Stem mother Kelly Morris was finally resolved November 18 when her skeletal remains were found in southern Granville County, ending an exhaustive search. Her husband, Scott Morris, was arrested and charged with murder the same day.

Kelly Morris was last seen Sept. 3, 2008. The following day, the house she shared with her family in Stem caught fire, which officials ruled was arson. Hours afterward, authorities found Morris' car about a mile from her home with her keys, purse and cell phone inside.

December 14, 2009: Three-Year Investigation Ends with Jason Young's Arrest

NC Wanted has kept a close eye on the 2006 murder of pregnant mother Michelle Young in Wake County. She was found inside her bedroom and had been beaten to death. From the start, warrants and other court documents pointed to one suspect: Michelle's husband Jason Young.

On December 14, 2009, Jason Young was finally charged. He had been famously uncooperative with the investigation and moved to Brevard with the couple's daughter Cassidy shortly after MIchelle's death.

Earlier this year, a Wake County judge awarded Michelle's family $15.5 million in damages in a wrongful death suit against Jason Young, and custody of Cassidy Young was awarded to Michelle's family.

NC Wanted caught Jason Young on camera while he played basketball at the Transylvania County Activities Center in August. When asked about his wife's death on camera, he responded, "You came here for that?"