Sleeping Man Attacked, Dies; Assailant Charged
A Hope Mills man was charged Thursday with murder in connection with the death of a man who was attacked early Wednesday as he slept on his living room sofa, authorities said.
Posted — UpdatedEdwin Xavier Black, 41, of 508 Bramblegate Road in Hope Mills, and another man were sleeping in the living room of the second man's home in Tanglewood Estates when someone knocked on the door at about 4:30 a.m. Wednesday, authorities said. The other man answered the door, and an assailant came in and started beating Black with an unidentified object, the witness told police.
The witness ran for help as Black and the assailant struggled, and when the man returned, he found Black injured and sitting on the front porch, authorities said. As the man tried to get Black to a nearby hospital for treatment, Black collapsed on the steps of the Nashville Drive home and died, authorities said.
The cause of Black's death hasn't yet been determined.
Walter Derrell "Rabbit" Patterson, 36, of 504 Cabot Drive in Hope Mills, was arrested Thursday morning and charged with second-degree murder in case, authorities said.
Patterson is being held in the Cumberland County Detention Center on a $101,000 secured bond.
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