RALEIGH, N.C. — Prosecutors have charged a second man, Alder Alfonso Marin-Sotelo, with murder in the Aug. 11 shooting of Wake County Deputy Ned Byrd.
Byrd was found dead on a sparsely populated road in southern Wake County at about 1 a.m. Aug. 12. Last week, prosecutors charged 29-year-old Arturo Marin-Sotelo, of Apex, with murder. The DA's office clarified Tuesday the two charged men are brothers.
“On that night, when I got to the scene, kneeled down beside him, promised him that we will find those responsible for what happened to him that night,” Sheriff Gerald Baker said at Byrd’s funeral Friday.
Byrd was a member of the Wake County K-9 unit and had been with the sheriff’s office for 13 years.
Alder Marin-Sotelo has been in federal custody in Forsyth County since last week. The relationship between the two men is not clear.
Arturo Marin-Sotelo is being held without bond in Wake County jail. He faces the possibility of life in prison or the death penalty if convicted.
Wake County District Attorney Lorrin Freeman said her office would make the decision in the coming months on whether to seek the death penalty.
"The killing of a law enforcement officer in the line of duty is something that would make this a death-eligible case," Freeman said after the hearing. "We will be doing our due diligence and reviewing all of the evidence and coming to a decision about that."
Little has been released about what led to Byrd’s killing.
The shooting in Wake County "involves things that were occurring in Forsyth County," Baker told reporters Thursday. Forsyth County Sheriff Bobby Kimbrough sat near Baker in the courtroom Thursday as Marin-Sotelo had his first appearance before a judge.
The sheriff said deputies responded to several calls in southern Wake County the night of Aug. 11. The deputy left a domestic dispute call that night near where he died, Baker said. The deputy may have pulled over to do his report on the call, he said.
“Following one of those calls he had the occasion to come down this road, and we believe he may have come into contact with someone and got out of his car to check on that situation, suspicious activity,” the sheriff said.
Baker said Byrd did not appear to feel threatened because the deputy left his K-9 partner Sasha in the car. When the sheriff’s office had not heard from Byrd in a while, they sent another deputy to go find him.
“We monitor these officers all over the county. The cars are equipped with equipment to help track where they are and keep up with things and there are instances where one may not be answering the radio or things like that or out of service which is out of the ordinary. So we have the ability to see where they are,” Baker said.
Byrd was the second deputy shot and killed in North Carolina this month. Five other law enforcement officers have been shot and injured in recent weeks in the state.
Wayne County Sheriff’s Office Sgt. Matthew Fishman was shot Aug. 1 while serving involuntary commitment papers. He died the next day.
“Much of what this profession is is going into the unknown when you step out of that car,” the Wake County sheriff said.
“When you walk up to serve an item of civil process, be it a domestic violence protective order or eviction, you don’t know what’s on the other side of the door and you don’t know the state of mind when you look at mental illness and drug and substance abuse what a person is going through,” Baker said.