Monday, April 4, 2011

Benson, NC: Stepfather killed trying to stop fight

- Staff Writer
BENSON -- An early morning spat between lovers left a 44-year-old man dead and his stepson behind bars.

Johnston County sheriff's deputies have accused Ricky Faircloth Jr., 21, of choking his girlfriend at his home early Sunday morning and then fatally shooting his stepfather when the older man tried to protect the woman.
Emergency medical workers said that the stepfather,Ernest Marvin Tart, 44, was found dead at the scene.
The deputies charged Faircloth, of 852 McLamb Road, with murder, assault on a female and felony assault on a female by strangulation, sheriff's spokeswoman Tammy Amaon said Sunday.

The sheriff's office was alerted at 12:15 a.m. about the shooting, Amaon said.

Faircloth's girlfriend, Jennifer Gregory, told sheriff's deputies that she and Faircloth were arguing when he grabbed her and started choking her.

Tart is thought to have tried to intervene in fracas.

There was a pause in the dispute when Faircloth went into another room in the home and got a shotgun.
Tart tried to take the weapon away from his stepson and during the struggle, the gun went off, Amaon said.
When sheriff's deputies arrived, Faircloth was still at the home. He was arrested without incident, Amaon said.

The deputies transported Faircloth to the Johnston County jail where he was being held without bail, Amaon said.

His first court appearance is scheduled for 9 a.m. today at the Johnston County courthouse.

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