Emily Starnes and Consandra Tyree, teen girls arrested in murder of N.C. cab driver, make first court appearance

NEWTON, N.C. - A pair of 16-year-old girls accused of killing a cab driver had their first court appearance on Thursday.

Photos: Consandra Tyree and Emily Starnes

The Hickory Daily Record reports Emily Katherine Starnes and Consandra Nicole Tyree have been charged with murder and other crimes in a robbery that ended in the death of Hickory cab driver Adam Williams on Aug. 23, 2011.

The teenage girls took turns standing before a Superior Court judge in a Newton courtroom as they began a string of court hearings expected to develop into a murder trial.

Starnes and Tyree were arrested on March 24. Two young men were also arrested and charged with murder for Williams' slaying along with the girls. A third man is also charged with being an accessory after the fact.

The night of the alleged murder, Williams had been dispatched to a Fuddruckers restaurant parking lot at about 10:30 p.m. The cab driver was attacked and stabbed shortly after he arrived by the accused.

He struggled to the door of the Longhorn Steakhouse while bleeding from slashes to his face and throat. Employees called an ambulance, which took Williams to Frye Regional Medical Center. This is where he was pronounced dead.

Starnes said little as Judge Nathaniel Poovey told her she was facing life in prison on her murder charge. The newspaper reports the teen faces an additional 23 years and 10 months in prison if convicted of robbery with a dangerous weapon and conspiracy to commit robbery with a dangerous weapon. Tyree also faces the same charges. Both girls were also charged with obstruction of justice in October after Hickory police decided the teens had been dishonest when questioned about Williams' murder.

Tyree nodded and reportedly mumbled answers to the judge's questions about whether she understood the charges against her. When Poovey asked if she wanted a court appointed attorney to represent her on her murder charges she mumbled a nearly inaudible, "I suppose."

Williams' sister, Stephanie Patrick got to the courtroom in time to see Tyree go before the judge.

"She didn't look like she cared at all that my niece and nephew are without a father now," she said. "I hope they both get what's coming to them and they never see daylight for the rest of their lives."

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