Philip D. BrownRichmond County Daily Journal

A Richmond County grand jury indicted three men on first-degree murder charges Monday in connection with the March 8 death of a 23-year-old Ellerbe man.

Dequawn “Quan” Nicholson, 18, of Dunn Street, Ellerbe; Carlos “Little Cheese” Bostick, 20, of Pine Cone Circle, Ellerbe; and Kendrick Little, 18, of Robinson Avenue, Ellerbe; are all being charged in the death of Daquan Baker.

They are all being held in

the Richmond County Jail under no bond.

Cadara Armstrong, 23, of Kennedy Circle, Aberdeen, was already charged with murder. His bond was set at $25,000.

Nicholson, Bostick and Little were all charged with felony counts of accessory after the fact and obstruction of justice before the grand jury convened.

At the time of the original arrests, Richmond County Sheriff Dale Furr explained there was an on-going dispute

between the victim and at least one of the men, and all four arrived at Ellerbe Manor Apartments in the same vehicle shortly before 3 p.m. on the day of the murder.

“We had actually arrested the

victim the night before for firing into an occupied dwelling,” Furr said. “... Baker was released on bond and the next day he ended up dead in the parking lot. They couldn’t wait for the law to take care of it.”

Nicholson was shot in the chest multiple times, and died shortly thereafter as a result of his wounds.

Two additional victims, 23-year-old Jessica Adams and a 2-year-old girl, both of Ellerbe Manor Apartments, were listed

in police reports.When deputies arrived on the

scene, they found Baker lying beside an older model minivan with the passenger side window shot out.

“(The four) were picked up several hours later for question-ing and arrested at the Richmond County Sheriff’s Office,” Furr explained in March.

■ Staff Writer Philip D. Brown can be reached at (910) 997-3111 ext. 32, or by e-mail at pbrown@yourdailyjournal.com.

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SEASHELLCONTINUED ON PAGE 3AOBAMA

CONTINUED ON PAGE 5A

Little Nicholson

Three more charged in murder

Bostick

PHILIP D. BROWN/DAILY JOURNAL

Publisher Rick Bacon handed over the $500 cash prize at about noon to an eager group of five who shared the winnings. Pictured are, from left, Bacon, Tonya Brown, Chander Brown, Corey Brown, William Johnson and Chynna Rogers.

Seashell hunt a family affairPhilip D. BrownRichmond County Daily Journal

It took 10 clues published in the Daily Journal for the location of the Golden Seashell to click in Tonya Brown’s head, but her hunch paid off Tuesday to the tune of $500.

“The thing about it that made it exciting was there were five locations on 74 where it could have been - until he gave the clue about every-thing being dead,” Brown explained.

For Brown, the Golden Seashell hunt is a fam-ily affair, as her children and their friends accom-

panied her on the journey.“I’ve been looking for it for four seasons, ever

since my mom (Penny Yates) found the Golden Egg at the tower on 220,” she said. “I got hooked after that. She actually found two of them, but this is the first time I actually found it.”

They split the winnings evenly among the five people who were on the search party Tuesday. They included Brown, Chynna Rogers, Will Johnson and Chander and Corey Brown.

HOLLIE NIVENS/DAILY JOURNAL

Sarah Goins of Hamlet (left) receives a fan from Richmond County Aging Services employee Sharon Morrison on Tuesday. The fans are given to the elderly of Richmond County on a first-serve basis to anyone above 60 who can prove their age and provide an elec-tric bill. For more information contact the Richmond County Aging Services at 997-4491.

Run-off drawing GOP interestPhilip D. BrownRichmond County Daily Journal

The run-off primaries for the U.S. House of Representatives and U.S. Senate aren’t generating anywhere near the attention local races did for Richmond County voters during the early voting period.

County voters are following up an early voting turnout that doubled Mecklenburg County’s during the early voting por-tion.

Only 223 have turned out to pick between Republicans Tim D’Annunzio and Harold Johnson for the 8th District House of Representatives race, and Cal Cunningham and Elaine Marshall for the chances to represents Democrats in the U.S. Senate race.

However, Richmond County Elections Director Connie Kelly said the race to see who will oppose U.S. Rep. Larry Kissell in November is turning out a much higher percentage of Republicans than the contest to decide who will chal-lenge U.S. Sen. Richard Burr is bringing out Democrats.

“Although turnout for the second pri-mary is typically low, the 8th District Representative race has brought out a high percentage of the county’s

Senior pageantdraws big crowdHollie NivensRichmond County Daily Journal

More than 300 people were in Owens Auditorium in Pinehurst on June 8 to watch Sarah Daffrom, a 60-year-old from Greensboro win the title and crown of “Ms. North Carolina Senior America 2010.”

“I was shocked. I didn’t think past the fact of par-ticipating in the competition,” Daffrom said. “I didn’t think about winning. I was really surprised when they called my name. This is the best feeling in the world.”

Other candidates for this year’s pageant were: Carole Wunderlin, 65, of Pinehurst; Janice Hopkins, 63, and Betty Kelley, 67, of Fayetteville; Joyce Santos, 69, of Rockingham; Lewellyn Gibson 71, of Hamlet, Judith Cox 68, of Winston-Salem and Loretta Linebarrier, 72, of Asheboro.

Beverly A. Wetherbie, 72, Ms Virginia Senior America 2005, the state co-director of the pageant, said it was wonderful. “We took a chance and went to a bigger venue.”

The ladies competed in four levels – interview with the judges, 30-second philosophy of life, evening gown and talent. Clogging was Daffrom’s talent.

“It was fantastic. I loved it,” said MS NC SA 2009 Rebecca Ross, 71, of Rockingham. “The stage was nice and it was practically a full audience.”

Santos won first runner up and Ms Congeniality, Linebarrier second runner up, Cox was third runner

Jennifer LovenAP White House Correspondent

WASHINGTON — Dedicating new urgency to the Gulf oil spill, President Barack Obama accused BP of “recklessness” in the first Oval Office address of his presidency Tuesday night and swore not to rest until the company has paid for the damage it has caused to lives, businesses and shorelines.

He announced that he had asked former Mississippi Gov. Ray Mabus to develop a long-term Gulf Coast Restoration Plan — to be funded by BP PLC — in concert with local states, communities, fisher-men, conservationists and residents “as soon as pos-sible.”

Obama did not detail what this plan should include or how much it might cost, a price sure to be in the bil-lions of dollars.

Whatever the bottom line, he declared to his prime-time television audience, “We will make BP pay.”

Still, eight weeks into the crisis, oil continues to gush from the broken wellhead, millions of gallons a day, and Obama has been powerless to stem the leak. The sad episode has raised doubts about his leadership and his administration’s response to

what Obama has called the nation’s worst environmental disaster.

A new Associated Press-GfK poll shows for the first time a majority of Americans disapproving of his handling of the situation.

A government panel of sci-entists said earlier Tuesday that the undersea well is leaking even more oil than previously thought, as much as 2.52 million gallons a day — or enough to fill the Oval Office more than 22 times. The total spilled so far could be as much as 116 million gallons.

BP has had only modest success so far in stemming the flood of oil, but Obama said that within weeks “these efforts should capture up to 90 percent of the oil leaking out of the well.” Later in the summer, he said, the com-pany should finish drilling a relief well to stop the leak completely.

Much of the president’s speech was devoted to a recitation of steps his admin-istration has already taken — “from the very beginning,” he said — to clean the oil, help the distraught people of the Gulf and prevent another environmental crisis.

Obama accuses BP of recklessness in TV address