Adoptee Charged With Homicide of Adoptive Mother

“A Clarkton woman, along with the adopted daughter of one of two people found dead in a home there earlier this month, led law enforcement on a car chase Tuesday before being arrested in the slayings, officials said.

Nona Belle Strickland, 18, and Keyonte Cassandra-Yvette Poole, 21, are each charged with first-degree murder and robbery with a dangerous weapon in the deaths of Sean Patrick Burke, 51, and Robbie Darlene Hildreth, 58, according to a news release from the Bladen County Sheriff’s Office.

On April 8, deputies were sent on a welfare check at the couple’s home at …. There they found Burke’s body outside and Hildreth’s body inside, said Chief Deputy Mac Warner.

An autopsy revealed Burke died of blunt force trauma from a beating; Hildreth’s cause of death is pending the outcome of toxicology results.

According to the news release, the women were sought for questioning in the deaths when law enforcement learned that Hildreth’s food assistance card had been used in Richmond, Virginia.

After Bladen County investigators traveled to Richmond and obtained video surveillance footage allegedly showing Strickland and Poole using the card at several stores there, they got warrants for their arrests, the release said.

On Tuesday, about 3 p.m., U.S. Marshals located Poole driving Hildreth’s missing 2014 Kia Sedona in Beulaville, in Duplin County, and attempted a traffic stop, the release said.

Poole allegedly refused to stop, leading lawmen on a short chase that ended when the Kia struck a light pole, traffic lights and a parked vehicle. The vehicle burst into flames after the wreck, Warner said.

Both Strickland and Poole were taken to the hospital with minor injuries. Upon their release a few hours later, the women were arrested.

A motive in the killings was not revealed.

Warner said that on April 4, the weekend before the bodies were found, deputies were called to the home over a domestic dispute between the two younger women and the couple.

He said the situation was resolved at that time and the deputy left.

It’s believed the two were killed the following day, he said.

Strickland and Poole are being held without bail in the Bladen County jail. ”

Daughter and her friend arrested in deaths of couple found in Clarkton home
[The Fayetteville Observer 4/22/01 by FT Norton]

REFORM Puzzle Piece