Despite wearing an ankle bracelet monitoring device while on pretrial release, a man charged in a Burlington shooting last year is now believed to be among those responsible for the murder of another man earlier this month.
The device was previously issued to Flores by his bail bond company, according to the Burlington Police Department.
Though it was unclear when Flores began wearing the device, police reported in March 2015 he was placed in the Alamance County jail under a $250,000 bond for assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill inflicting serious injury for the shooting of Terrence Jamar Smith at DP Mini Mart on Rauhut Street.
This time, Flores, 24, of 310 Cleveland Ave., Burlington, is charged with first-degree murder and accessory after the fact of first-degree murder for the Feb. 2 fatal shooting of Sam Scoggins, 41, of Elon.
He is being held in the Alamance County jail without bond.
N.C. Highway Patrol reported on Thursday that three Alamance County-based troopers assisted Burlington police with apprehending Flores, who was taken into custody following a brief foot chase at Cedar Hill Apartments in Mebane.
Sgt. Michael Baker, of Highway Patrol, said Burlington police contacted Highway Patrol’s communications center for assistance and three troopers on routine patrol were instructed to follow the vehicle as Burlington relayed Flores’ location.
Though the troopers weren’t able to locate Flores on the interstate, they found him at the apartment complex and took him into custody without having to use force, Baker said.
He was then given over to the custody of the Burlington Police Department.
Police say charges are forthcoming against others believed to be involved in the murder.
On Feb. 11, Ronald Rings, 29, of 113 S. St. John St., was charged with obstruction of justice after providing false information related to the murder investigation.
SCOGGINS WAS SHOT in the chest around 11:15 p.m. the night of Feb. 2. Upon arrival, police located him lying in the road on Sellars Street, next to a corner residence at 202 Holt St.
That residence, an apartment building, was described by neighbors as a crack house and a hub of illegal activity.
During the course of the investigation into Scoggins’ murder, Burlington police determined that, indeed, the residence next to where his body was found was “a hub of social activity involving drug use,” said Lt. Chris Gaddis.
Subsequently, one of its residents, 63-year-old Francis Kane Yarbor, was charged Feb. 12 with maintaining a dwelling for a controlled substance. She is still being held in the Alamance County jail under a $10,000 bond.
Page 2 of 2- “She facilitated a hangout spot,” Gaddis said of Yarbor. “She harbored a facility of open-air drug transactions.”
Yarbor has been convicted of multiple charges over the past 20 years related to possession, sale and distribution of drugs.
The police department hasn’t released a motive for the killing nor specified Flores’ role in the crime, though a warrant for his arrest indicates Flores drove an unknown perpetrator from the scene of the murder.
They haven’t said what they believe Scoggins was doing on the street beside the residence at the time he was killed, but confirmed that some witnesses said he was there on previous occasions as well as earlier that evening.
Police believe Flores and Scoggins may have known each other.
In 2011, Flores was convicted of felony possession with intent to sell and deliver a Schedule II controlled substance, as well as misdemeanor possession of drug paraphernalia and possession of a Schedule VI controlled substance.
Anyone with information on the murder is asked to contact the Burlington Police Department at 336-229-3500 or CrimeStoppers at 336-229-7100.
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