An 18-year-old Salisbury man has pleaded guilty to a burglary charge tied to an officer-involved shooting in Newton earlier this year, closing out part of a Catawba County case while separate Mecklenburg County allegations remain on the docket.
According to Queen City News, 18-year-old Ahmon Jymir Henderson entered a guilty plea on May 5 to one count of second-degree burglary and to possessing a stolen firearm. The outlet reports that the plea resolves part of his Catawba County case, and that Henderson is scheduled to be back in court on June 18 on separate charges out of Mecklenburg County.
How the case began
The charges trace back to a Feb. 2 encounter at the Sandalwood Apartments in Newton. Officers responding to a reported trespass said a man ran from a shed and was shot in the leg. Newton police told WBTV that the man, later identified as Henderson, was treated by EMS, then taken to Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist Hospital in Winston-Salem, and that the department was not notified when he was released from the hospital. The officer who fired the weapon was placed on administrative leave while the State Bureau of Investigation conducts its review.
Arrest and related charges
Police said Henderson was taken into custody near the apartment complex the day after the shooting. Court filings list two counts of second-degree burglary, possession of a stolen firearm and resisting an officer, as reported by The Charlotte Observer. Spectrum News later reported that 19-year-old Kalis Sani Davis Farley was arrested on multiple felony counts, accused of picking Henderson up from the hospital and keeping him at her apartment.
What the charges mean
Under North Carolina law, second-degree burglary is defined by statute and treated as a felony. Punishment falls under the state’s structured sentencing system and hinges on a defendant’s prior-record level. Legislative materials from the General Assembly describe burglary statutes, and legal summaries note that Class G felonies, which is the usual classification for many second-degree burglary charges, carry a range of possible prison terms that vary with a person’s record and other factors. State statutes and court resources lay out the specific ranges and scenarios…