Thread: Update - Sixth person charged in delivery driver's murder

Update - Sixth person charged in delivery driver's murder

Clockwise from top left, Manije Daneek Johnson-Martin, Marvin Lee White, Rasheed Ramone Thompson and Cornell Dwayne Haugabook Jr. were charged in connection the the shooting death of Zhen Bo Liu.


By Brian Freskos

Published: Thursday, June 21, 2012 at 2:53 p.m.

Last Modified: Friday, June 22, 2012 at 12:03 p.m.

After shooting Zhen Bo Liu on a dark Wilmington street, the gunmen stole his food delivery of chicken wings and shrimp fried rice and shared the meal among their accomplices at a nearby house. After eating, they returned to view Liu's body and rummage through his car.

When police arrived on South 13th Street to begin their investigation into Liu's June 14 death, the only things missing from the 60-year-old delivery driver's vehicle was the order of food and $48 in cash.
As emerging details shed light on events investigators believe unfolded last week, Wilmington police on Friday announced the arrest of a sixth person accused of playing a role in planning the robbery that led to Liu's murder.
The new suspect, 16-year-old Nathaniel Lawrence, brings to six the number of people charged with conspiracy to commit armed robbery for allegedly concocting a scheme to hold up a delivery driver. Two of those, 15-year-old Mustafaa Friend and 20-year-old Cornell Haugabook Jr., also face first-degree murder charges.
Friend and Haugabook made separate appearances in New Hanover County courtrooms on Friday. Friend was ordered to remain in custody until another hearing July 3. Haugabook was denied bond, meaning he will stay in the New Hanover County jail pending trial.
The other four suspects – Lawrence, Rasheed Thompson, Manije Johnson-Martin, all 16 years old, and 18-year-old Marvin White – also remained in jail Friday.
During Friend's appearance Friday morning in juvenile court, Assistant District Attorney Jason Smith said Friend and a group of accomplices hatched a plan on June 14 to rob a delivery driver.
After placing an order with China King, a restaurant on South 17th Street where Liu worked, Friend and Haugabook, each armed with a handgun, confronted Liu at 13th and Queen streets.
Liu drove to that area around 9:30 p.m., presumably believing he was making a routine food delivery. But after he arrived, Friend shot Liu in the foot and then Haugabook shot him in the face, killing him, Smith said.
The two gunmen then brought the food to a nearby house and ate it with the others. When they finished their meal, the group "came back to view the body and go through the car," Smith said.
In police interviews, White, Martin and Thompson all pointed the finger at Haugabook and Friend, Smith said.
During the hearing, Chief District Court Judge J.H. Corpening informed the young, shackled Friend that because the boy is younger than 18, he is ineligible for the death penalty under North Carolina law. But instead, "you face imprisonment for a term of your natural life" without the possibility of parole, the judge said.
The New Hanover County District Attorney's Office has said it will review the case to determine if prosecutors want to pursue trying Friend as an adult. If that determination is made, a hearing will be set before a judge, who will ultimately decide whether Friend's case will be moved to adult court.
Later Friday, bailiffs led Haugabook into a courtroom on the third floor of the county courthouse. There, Haugabook showed no emotion as District Court Judge Chad Hogston informed the defendant that he potentially faced the death penalty if convicted.
Haugabook's mother, Nadine Milton, attended her son's court appearance Friday. The scene brought her to tears. In an interview outside the courtroom, she expressed sympathies for Liu's family, but asserted her son's innocence.
"If my son say he didn't do it then I am 100 percent by his side," Milton said, insisting Haugabook did not carry a gun. "I don't think my son would do something like that."
Milton said her son moved from Florida earlier this year. He lived with her, she said, and made money working on homes.
Records show Haugabook served more than three years in a Florida prison for burglary and grand theft charges and was on probation at the time he is alleged to have killed Liu.
Liu's murder has roiled the city, with some urging for the maximum possible punishment against those involved. Friday's arrest of a sixth person, the fifth teenager charged in the case, is likely to further stir emotions.
Liu, a father who moved from Shanghai several months ago, lived in an apartment near Shipyard Boulevard and 17th Street and worked part-time at the restaurant about a mile away. Passersby found his body slumped in the driver's seat of his decade-old silver Honda Accord.
Kevin Tully, a Wilmington police detective who assisted in the investigation, said during a press conference earlier this week that police notified Liu's son through the Chinese embassy.
Speculation has focused on whether the suspects had gang ties. Police have declined to comment on possible gang affiliations or how that might have factored into the murder, if at all. Thompson was charged in March with defacing public property for gang graffiti drawn on the walls of New Hanover High School, according to court documents.
None of the other defendants have serious criminal histories in North Carolina except White, who has previously been charged with firing a semi-automatic handgun in the city limits, breaking into a house on South 8th Street, and possessing a stolen moped.
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On Twitter: @BrianFreskos
Update - Police arrest sixth person in fatal shooting

Wilmington police have arrested another person in last week's fatal shooting of a delivery driver, accusing him of playing a role in hatching the robbery that led to Zhen Bo Liu's death.
Nathaniel Lawrence, 16, is charged with conspiracy to commit armed robbery, bringing to six the number of suspects police say planned the robbery that led to Liu's death.
Two of those suspects, 15-year-old Mustafaa Friend and 20-year-old Cornell Haugabook Jr., face first-degree murder charges for allegedly acting as the triggermen.
At about 9:30 p.m. on June 14, Liu left the China King restaurant headed for an address on South 13th Street. There, Friend and Haugabook, each armed with a handgun, confronted the 60-year-old man, said Assistant District Attorney Jason Smith.
Friend shot Liu in the foot and then Haugabook shot him in the face, killing him, Smith said. The two returned to a nearby house and shared the food with the others.
After eating, the group, "came back to view the body and go through the car," said Smith.
Like Lawrence, Marvin White, 18; Rasheed Thompson, 16; and Manie Johnson-Martin, 16, are charged with conspiracy to commit armed robbery in connection to the case.
Brian Freskos: 343-2327
On Twitter: @BrianFreskos
Update - Juvenile charged in delivery driver's death denied release

A Wilmington judge Friday denied the release of a 15-year-old boy charged with first-degree murder in the death of a food delivery driver.
Chief District Court Judge J.H. Corpening ordered that Mustafaa Friend remain in custody until a probable cause hearing July 3.
Friend is charged as a juvenile with the June 14 shooting death of Zhen Bo Liu, a delivery driver for China King on South 17th Street.
Assistant District Attorney Jason Smith said during a hearing Friday morning in juvenile court that Friend was with Marvin White, 18; Rasheed Thompson, 16; Manije Johnson-Martin, 16; and Cornell Dewayne Haugabook Jr., 20, when the group concocted a plan to rob a delivery driver.
After placing an order with China King, Smith said, Friend and Haugabook, each armed with a handgun, confronted the 60-year-old man at 13th and Queen streets.
Smith said Friend shot Liu in the foot and then Haugabook shot him in the face, killing him. The two returned to a nearby house and shared the food with the others.
After eating, the group, "came back to view the body and go through the car," said Smith.
Police say all that was missing when Liu's body was found later that night was the order of chicken wings and shrimp fried rice and $48 in cash.
Smith said that in police interviews White, Johnson-Martin and Thompson all point the finger at Haugabook and Friend.
Friend is charged with first-degree murder, conspiracy to commit robbery, larceny, conspiracy to commit breaking and entering, and armed robbery.
Corpening informed the young, shackled Friend that under North Carolina law because he is under 18, he is not eligible for the death penalty, but instead "you face imprisonment for a term of your natural life" without the possibility of parole.
Corpening also appointed a public defender to Friend's case.
According to the New Hanover County District Attorney's Office, the DA's office will review the case to determine if they want it moved to adult court.
If that determination is made, a transfer hearing will be set before a judge who will ultimately decide whether the case will be transferred and Friend tried as an adult.
Friend's next custody status hearing is set for July 26.
Check back for more on this developing story.
Update - Court proceedings begin

A New Hanover County judge ordered that a 15-year-old boy remain in custody Friday on a first-degree murder charge.
He is among five people arrested in the case of a delivery driver who was found shot to death last week on South 13th Street.
The prosecution said the boy shot Zhen Bo Liu, 60, in the foot, and fellow defendant Dwayne Haugabook, 20, shot him in the face.
First court appearances were scheduled for later Friday for the other suspects.
Check back for more on this developing story.
– F.T. Norton
Wilmington police have arrested five people, including a 15-year-old boy, for allegedly shooting a delivery driver dead last week.
Their motive, according to a top police official, was free Chinese food.
The arrests, announced during a Thursday press conference at the Wilmington Police Department, raised fresh emotions around the killing of Zhen Bo Liu, a 60-year-old delivery driver whose slumped body was found in a car on South 13th Street. His death rippled as far away as China, where Liu has family.
"Mr. Liu was only trying to make a living doing his job, and he was brutally murdered for no reason whatsoever," said Wilmington Police Chief Ralph Evangelous, his tone tinged with anger. "This is a horrible case and one our detectives took personally."
The suspects, ranging in age from 15 to 20, stand accused of ordering food from China King, a restaurant on South 17th Street, in a scheme to lure a delivery driver to a dark street so they could rob him. Liu happened to answer the call, and when he stopped his car to deliver an order of chicken wings and shrimp fried rice, the assailants shot him, police said.
Charged with first-degree murder and armed robbery are Cornell Dwayne Haugabook Jr., 20, and the 15-year-old juvenile, whose identity is confidential. The other three, Manije Daneek Johnson-Martin, 16, Rasheed Ramone Thompson, 16, and Marvin Lee White, 18, face one count of conspiracy to commit robbery.
New Hanover County District Attorney Ben David, who also addressed reporters during Thursday's conference, said a committee will be discussing whether to seek the death penalty against Haugabook and a district court judge will later decide whether to try the juvenile as an adult. Under current law, defendants younger than 18 are ineligible for the death penalty, but the juvenile could still face life without parole.
"I've been a prosecutor now in this office for 13 years. I've handled a bulk of the murder cases," David said, "and by any objective measure this is one of the worst I've seen."
At about 9:30 p.m. on June 14, Liu left the China King restaurant headed for an address on South 13th near Queen Street. He parked in front of a yellow house. Police have not detailed the events that transpired after he stopped, except to say that he was shot.
After the killing, the assailants ate the food – about $46 worth – at a nearby house.
"If that's not cold blooded, I've never seen it," Evangelous said.
A father, Liu moved from Shanghai several months ago and worked part-time at China King, said Ting Ngai Cheng, Liu's friend and the restaurant's owner.
The restaurant was closed the day after Liu's death, and someone had taped a card to the front door. On the envelope, someone had written, "God Bless You. Lots of Love to All of You."
Liu's killing set in motion what officials described as an extensive police investigation, with detectives logging more than 600 hours since the crime occurred, Evangelous said.
Law enforcement officials said they hoped the arrests sent a warning to anyone thinking about engaging in such robberies, which occur with a measure of frequency but usually do not result in serious injuries or death.
"If you're going to be involved in this type of criminal activity, we're going to hunt you down and we're going to put you in jail," Evangelous said.
None of the suspects have serious criminal records in North Carolina. But Haugabook, the 20-year-old facing a murder charge, was released from a Florida prison in February after serving three years for burglary and grand theft, according to the Florida Department of Corrections.
During Thursday's press conference, David made mention that North Carolina is one of only two states that automatically try 16-year-olds as adults, saying the four older suspects in this case, two of whom are 16, are "as old as their grandparents in the eyes of the law."
David said he visits schools every year to talk to young people about choices and consequences, "and one thing I share with them is that if they're going to commit adult crime, then it is the position of my office that we're going to try them like adults and treat them like adults."
Brian Freskos: 343-2327

Five facing charges after allegedly killing delivery driver, then taking food home to eat | StarNewsOnline.com

Six blacks, at least one of them a juvenile [age 16] have been charged or are being investigated in connection with the murder of an Asian [Chinese?] fast-food-delivery man.

How will the FBI record this inter-racial crime??? Anyone's guess, because FBI criteria are politically-correct. [Hispanics are "white" with respect to the Perpetrator category; Hispanics are Hispanic with respect to the Victim category. These criteria inflate statistics on "white" crime.