Below you will find information about the latest pleas, trials, and important developments in Burke, Caldwell, and Catawba Counties. As an office, we are bound by the Rules of Professional Conduct for all North Carolina attorneys, and special rules for prosecutors. Therefore, we often only comment on cases after final disposition.
For all media inquiries and requests, for all three counties, please contact Nathan Key by phone: 828-695-6193 or email: Nathan.D.Key@nccourts.org.
A Hickory man could spend up to 17 years in prison following his conviction for second-degree murder during Catawba County Superior Court on Thursday, June 25, 2020. Monroe David Byrd. Jr., 54, was given an active prison term of 13 … Read More
A Caldwell County deputy involved in the fatal shooting of a 28-year-old man has been cleared of any wrongdoing by the District Attorney’s Office. Following a review of the investigative findings by the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation of a shooting incident … Read More
A Granite Falls man was sentenced to an active prison term of 27 to 33 years following a guilty plea to second-degree murder and other charges during Caldwell County Superior Court on Thursday, June 4, 2020. Michael Vincent Osborne, 39, entered … Read More
The United States Marshals involved in the fatal shooting of a man following a standoff in Hudson have been deemed justified in their use of deadly force. Based on a review of the findings from an investigation by the North … Read More
On Monday April 20, 2020, District Attorney Scott Reilly appeared before the Catawba County Board of County Commissioners along with Tammy West, District Attorney Legal Assistant, and Jennifer Mace, Catawba County Budget and Management Director, regarding implementation of a Veterans’ Treatment Court in Catawba County. … Read More
A Burke County jury needed less than half an hour to convict a Morganton man of first-degree murder that led to a life sentence in prison on Tuesday, March 17, 2020. Darius Heasley King, 27, was given the life sentence … Read More
Cody Randolph Bryant, 34, of Old Fort, N.C., was given an active prison sentence of six to eight years following his conviction for trafficking methamphetamine by possession during Catawba County Superior Court. The Honorable George C. Bell, Superior Court Judge … Read More
A Conover man will spend at least 18 years in prison following his conviction for sexual and physical assaults of multiple victims during Catawba County Superior Court on Monday, March 2, 2020. Jose Angel Melgar Guardado, 42, was sentenced to … Read More
Ezra Harold Patton, 23, of Morganton, was given an active prison sentence of eight to 12 years following his conviction for multiple crimes during Burke County Superior Court on Monday, February 17, 2020. The Honorable Steve Warren, Superior Court Judge from Buncombe County, imposed the prison term for Patton after he pleaded … Read More
A Hudson man was sentenced to serve more than two decades in prison following his conviction for second-degree murder during Caldwell County Superior Court on Monday, February 17, 2020. Nathan Alexander Vasquez, 25, was given an active prison sentence of 20 to 25 … Read More