LUMBERTON — A Pembroke man was found guilty Wednesday of two counts of second-degree murder for the killing of two people in June 2010.
Daniel Rice, 29, also was convicted of one count of attempted first-degree murder; one count of assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill inflicting serious injury; one count of discharging a firearm into occupied property; one count of robbery with a dangerous weapon; and one count of conspiracy to commit robbery with a dangerous weapon, according to information from Robeson County District Attorney Johnson Britt.
“He’s the last of five co-defendants,” said Matt Scott, the lead prosecutor in the case.
Scott and fellow assistant district attorney Jamie Heavner prosecuted the case during the seven-week trial presided over by Resident Superior Court Judge Greg Bell at the Robeson County Courthouse.
Rice’s sentencing hearing is scheduled for 10 a.m. Friday. Scott said Rice faces a lot of prison time.
“I haven’t calculated it, yet,” Scott said Wednesday. “We’re going to calculate it tomorrow. It’s going to be a lot.”
Rice was convicted of murder for the shooting deaths of Derrick Shea, 21, and 19-year-old Jason Chavis, Scott said. The convictions for attempted murder and assault with intent to kill inflicting serious injury were for the shooting of Kiara Jones during the same incident. Jones was 18 at the time of the shooting.
Rice, Donavan Chavis, Casey Dial, Charles Christopher Locklear, and Dakota Freeman were arrested and charged for the shooting incident on Shannon Road, about eight miles west of Lumberton. Responding Robeson County Sheriff’s Office deputies arrived to find three people shot in a 2005 Mazda SUV parked on the road.
Shamallory Jones, of Red Springs, also was in the SUV. Jones, 20 at the time, was not shot.
Rice’s four co-defendants pleaded guilty to various charges related to the shooting, Scott said. Rice’s case progressed through the legal system and was slowed by the fact that Rice had multiple defense attorneys, some of whom dropped out of the case for various reasons.
Rice was not behind bars for the duration of his case.
“No,” Scott said. “At one point he was out on bail.”
During that time, Rice “picked up a weapons charge,” to which he pleaded guilty in federal court, Scott said.
Scott, a Democrat, is a candidate for Robeson County district attorney. He will face Republican Allan Adams in the Nov. 6 general election. Adams is a Lumberton resident and assistant district attorney in Columbus County.
Britt is retiring after first being elected district attorney in 1994 and then being re-elected six times.
