Local News

Cameras prohibited in accused nursing home shooter's trial

A Superior Court judge ruled Tuesday that cameras won't be allowed inside the courtroom when a man goes to trial next month for a massacre more than two years ago at a Carthage nursing home.

Posted Updated
Robert Kenneth Stewart
CARTHAGE, N.C. — A Superior Court judge ruled Tuesday that cameras won't be allowed inside the courtroom when a man goes to trial next month for a massacre at a Carthage nursing home more than two years ago.

Judge James Webb signed an order prohibiting electronic media and still photography in any courtroom, hallway or lobby at any stage of the trial of Robert Kenneth Stewart.

Authorities say he shot and killed eight people and wounded three others, including a police officer, at Pinelake Health and Rehab on March 29, 2009.

Jury selection in his trial is set to begin July 11 If convicted, Stewart could face the death penalty.

Attorneys for Stewart had asked that the trial be moved out of Moore County because of the extensive coverage the shootings received in the wake of the shooting.

Webb ruled that potential jurors would come from Stanly County but that the trial would take place in Moore County.

It was a quiet Sunday morning when, police say, Stewart entered the nursing home looking for his estranged wife. Seven patients and a nurse died in the attack.

A Carthage police officer, Justin Garner, ended the rampage when he shot Stewart in the chest.

 Credits 

Copyright 2024 by Capitol Broadcasting Company. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.