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‘Can’t we all just get along?’ NC family pleads for answers in football player’s death

By Sarah Nagem sarahnagem@borderbelt.org Marqueise Coleman was gunned down in the small southeastern North Carolina town where he was well-known as a good student, a standout on the football field and a young man with a bright future. Now, Coleman’s family is pleading with the community to share information about the shooting that left the 19-year-old dead in the early-morning hours of July 29. “I …Read more Continue reading ‘Can’t we all just get along?’ NC family pleads for answers in football player’s death

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‘Our children need more voices.’ Southeastern NC seeks volunteers to help kids in court

At 4 a.m. each weekday morning, attorney Bryan Wilson grabs a cup of coffee and looks over dozens of files of neglected and abused children from southeastern North Carolina. It’s his job to make sure they’re safe during the months — and sometimes years — that their cases trudge through the court system.  Hours later at the Bladen County Courthouse, Wilson ticks through a series …Read more Continue reading ‘Our children need more voices.’ Southeastern NC seeks volunteers to help kids in court

Indigenous women, Lumbee

‘An attack on our people:’ North Carolina’s missing and murdered Indigenous women

When Lisa Hardin didn’t return to her southeastern North Carolina home in the summer of 2003, her mother knew something was wrong.  Days later, police found the body of 36-year-old Hardin in the woods on the east side of Lumberton in Robeson County. Her orange Harley Davidson T-shirt was pulled over her chest, and her underwear was twisted around her right ankle. She had been …Read more Continue reading ‘An attack on our people:’ North Carolina’s missing and murdered Indigenous women

After 24 years as Robeson County district attorney, Johnson Britt now on the other side of the aisle

When he was in law school Johnson Britt turned down opportunities to work in district attorneys’ offices because he thought prosecutors were the bad guys. Eight years later he successfully ran for DA of Robeson County, an office he held for 24 years. He inherited 81 pending murder cases and 14 capital resentencing cases on his first day. Throughout his career, Britt remembers four cases …Read more Continue reading After 24 years as Robeson County district attorney, Johnson Britt now on the other side of the aisle