Johnston County man charged with killing stepfather
A Johnston County man tried to strangle his girlfriend and then shot and killed his stepfather when he intervened around midnight Saturday, according to the sheriff's office.
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Spokeswoman Tammy Amaon said that Ricky David Faircloth, 21, argued with his girlfriend at his home at 852 McLamb Road, outside Dunn, around midnight Saturday.
When he started to strangle her, his stepfather, 44-year-old Ernest Marvin Tart, intervened, Amaon said. Faircloth got angry and grabbed a shotgun.
Amaon said that Tart tried to pull the gun out of his stepson's hands, and during the struggle, the gun went off, striking Tart.
He was pronounced dead at the scene, and Faircloth was taken into custody there.
Faircloth was charged with murder, assault on a female and assault by strangulation. He was placed in the Johnston County jail without bond. His first court appearance was set for Monday.
Faircloth has served probation for a half-dozen misdemeanor convictions since 2007, according to state Department of Correction records. The misdemeanors include assault inflicting serious injury and two counts of communicating threats.
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