Results 1 to 2 of 2

Thread: Kendrick Keyanti Gregory Sentenced to LWOP in 2015 NC Murder of Thomas Durand

  1. #1
    Senior Member CnCP Legend
    Join Date
    Oct 2018
    Posts
    2,243

    Kendrick Keyanti Gregory Sentenced to LWOP in 2015 NC Murder of Thomas Durand





    Man with mental illness faces possible death penalty in 2015 Raleigh murder case

    By Josh Shaffer
    The News & Observer

    RALEIGH- In April, Wake County prosecutors plan to start a death-penalty trial for accused murderer Kendrick Gregory, a Raleigh man whom doctors have diagnosed as acutely psychotic, court documents show.

    His attorneys argued Wednesday that Gregory, 25, has deteriorated so dramatically in the Wake County jail that he cannot help with his own defense, answering all questions with a single word and declining to bathe.

    They asked that his trial be delayed because Gregory refuses to take anti-psychotic medicine, which is his right, and returning him to a competent state will take several months at Central Regional Hospital in Butner.

    “Kendrick Gregory is a severely mentally ill man whom the Wake County District Attorney’s office is trying to put to death,” attorneys argued in a February motion filed in Superior Court. “An April 20, 2020, trial date constitutes cruel and unusual punishment.”

    Superior Court Judge Tom Lock will hold a hearing in March to decide whether the trial should be delayed and whether doctors can give Gregory the drugs involuntarily. In the mean time, Gregory will return to Butner.

    In 2015, police charged Gregory with killing a pawn shop owner on Capital Boulevard, shooting a man at the Knights Inn on New Bern Avenue and raping a 15-year-old girl on the same night.

    He fled to New York and was captured there in a car that had been reported stolen, then fought extradition to Wake County.

    MCDONALD’S MEETING

    His mother, Alicia Gregory, told the N&O that her son has suffered from mental illness since 2011, hearing voices and getting frequent treatment in Holly Hill Hospital.

    Raleigh historian Aaliyah Blaylock also told The News & Observer that Gregory met her at a McDonald’s and asked her to pray for him. He could not stop sticking out his tongue, she said, and he felt like his legs were going into the ground when he walked.

    In court filings, Gregory’s attorneys report doctors at Holly Hill diagnosed him with psychosis, schizoaffective disorder and other mental illnesses. Doctors at Central Regional judged him incapable of going to trial in 2017, then said they had restored his competency after Gregory was committed there.

    But in August, the motion said, he began refusing to meet with his attorneys or answer their questions, emitting a “foul odor” when they met. Central Regional evaluated him again and called him “untreated or under treated for several months” while in Wake County custody.

    It is believed Gregory could be restored to competency in a few months, attorneys said, giving them inadequate time to prepare for a death-penalty trial. Doctors at Central Regional recommend Gregory go back on anti-psychotic drugs to have his competency for trial restored, but Gregory does not want to take them because of the side effects.

    DEATH PENALTY RARE IN NC

    North Carolina has not executed a prisoner since 2006, and the death penalty has grown increasingly rare.

    Wake County District Attorney Lorrin Freeman’s office pursued a capital case against Seaga Gillard last year, sending the convicted murderer to Death Row.

    The state now has 143 prisoners on Death Row, and Gillard represents one of three sent there in 2019, records show. Freeman’s continued pursuit of capital punishment makes her an “outlier” in the state, the nonprofit Center for Death Penalty Litigation has said.

    Freeman said her office continues to pursue the death penalty in Gregory’s case because “course of conduct” is an aggravating factor, meaning, “not only was someone killed, but there was a series of other crimes.”

    On the issue of competency and medication, Freeman said: “He’s been treated consistently. I think it would be our position he needs to follow his doctors’ advice.”
    Last edited by Steven; 05-10-2022 at 12:37 PM.

  2. #2
    Administrator Helen's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2013
    Location
    Toronto, Ontario, Canada
    Posts
    20,875
    Man will spend rest of life in prison for 2015 Capital Blvd. crime spree that included rape, murder

    By Amanda Lamb and Jodi Leese Glusco
    WRAL News

    A man convicted of murder, robbery and rape, who once declared himself the antichrist, will spend the rest of his life in prison without the possibility of parole after being found guilty Tuesday on all charges.

    A sentencing hearing progressed quickly and without controversy Wednesday morning for Kendrick Keyanti Gregory, 26.

    Gregory was on probation after a conviction for breaking into vehicles in August of 2015 when his one-day crime spree shocked the City of Oaks

    Investigators say Gregory shot and robbed a 27-year-old man at a hotel, killed 64-year-old Thomas Melvin Durand, owner of the Mr. Pawn check cashing shop on Capital Boulevard, then grabbed a 15-year-old girl from her yard and raped her on Aug. 31, 2015, before fleeing to New York City.

    He was arrested in Brooklyn two days later in an SUV that had been reported stolen in Manhattan. Police said he had a .45-caliber handgun in his pocket and another gun under the driver's seat at the time.

    Jurors and the judge heard first from Durand's daughter, Stephanie Thomas, who said, "The world is a horribly sad place, Dad. And it's even more horrible without you here. I'm still waiting to wake up from this nightmare."

    Thomas, who was 20 weeks pregnant at the time of her father's death, said she thinks about her father when she holds her son.

    "I didn't just lose my father on Aug. 31, 2015. I lost and continue to mourn his presence several times a year," she said.

    Gregory's defense: Insanity

    After a series of outbursts during early court appearances in the case, including his claim to be the antichrist, Gregory was found in 2018 to be incompetent to stand trial.

    While the state admits he suffers from mental illness, they said he knew what he was doing. His trial began in July.

    His attorneys argued that he suffers from schizoaffective disorder.

    "It was essentially saying he did this, but where was his frame of mind when everything was going o" said defense attorney Deonte Thomas.

    At the sentencing hearing, Assistant District Attorney Matthew Lively said, "This was a day that rocked the community.

    "Because of the jury's verdict," he said, "I'd ask that you sentence him to life without parole as the law requires for first-degree murder."

    Gregory declined a chance to speak before Superior Court Judge Thomas Lock handed down his sentence. Noting that the sentence for first-degree murder is mandatory, he sent Gregory to prison for life without any chance at parole. Penalties for the other crimes would be served subsequently, meaning Gregory, who is 26, faces a minimum of an additional 52 years behind bars.

    https://www.wral.com/man-will-spend-...rder/19809507/
    "I realize this may sound harsh, but as a father and former lawman, I really don't care if it's by lethal injection, by the electric chair, firing squad, hanging, the guillotine or being fed to the lions."
    - Oklahoma Rep. Mike Christian

    "There are some people who just do not deserve to live,"
    - Rev. Richard Hawke

    “There are lots of extremely smug and self-satisfied people in what would be deemed lower down in society, who also deserve to be pulled up. In a proper free society, you should be allowed to make jokes about absolutely anything.”
    - Rowan Atkinson

Thread Information

Users Browsing this Thread

There are currently 1 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 1 guests)

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •