Prosecutors to seek death penalty in trooper’s death

WHITEVILLE, N.C. – Prosecutors say they’ll seek the death penalty for one of two men charged in the fatal shooting of a North Carolina Highway Patrol trooper during a traffic stop last month.

The Columbus County District Attorney’s Office said in a statement that a grand jury indicted 18-year-old Chauncey Askew on a first-degree murder charge Wednesday in the shooting death of Trooper Kevin Conner. District Attorney Jon David says his office intends to seek the death penalty against Askew.

Authorities say Conner was shot early Oct. 17 after stopping a pickup truck on a rural highway. Twenty-year-old Raheem Cole Dashanell Davis was arrested hours after the shooting and charged with first-degree murder. Askew was arrested days later in South Carolina. David says his office will make a charging determination on Davis later.