Williams, left, and Starks

Tyrees Nathaniel Williams, 17, of Weldon, was arrested Tuesday night shortly before 8, Halifax County Sheriff Wes Tripp said in a statement while his cousin, Khalil Lemon Starks, 21, of Roanoke Rapids, surrendered to the sheriff’s office around 10:30 Wednesday morning.
Williams has family ties to the Burlington area, a source familiar with the case confirmed this morning.
The Times-News of Burlington reported one of the two arrested Wednesday was the reported shooter of 32-year-old Christina Marie Smith on December 28.
Captain Brett Taylor of the investigative division of the Burlington Police Department told rrspin.com this morning Starks was reportedly identified as the one who pulled the trigger and the robbery was allegedly coordinated by a man arrested earlier in the case.
Taylor said both drugs and money were mentioned as items to be acquired in the robbery.
Other than Williams and Starks being cousins, Taylor said investigators are not sure why Starks stayed in the Burlington area.
Police were remotely familiar with Williams, Taylor said, “Clearly not to this level. It’s a shame when two young men this age become involved in something this heinous.”
The Times-News reported Smith was shot in the head during an armed robbery in the room of a boarding house she stayed in, possibly trying to defend her disabled roommate.
The newspaper reported Starks and Williams are the third and fourth suspects charged in the homicide, following Marlow Laddell Southern, 34, and Jasmine Dezira McNew, 27, both of Burlington, who were arrested Friday.
Investigators believe the suspects intended to rob Smith’s male roommate, the paper reported.
“The thin blue line is strong statewide and nationwide,” Tripp said this morning of the cooperation which led to the arrests of Williams and Starks.
Tripp said in his statement Burlington police investigators contacted Halifax County authorities because both Williams and Starks had addresses in the county.
On Tuesday agents of the City County Drug Task Force and the patrol division of the Roanoke Rapids Police Department went to a residence on Franklin Street in Roanoke Rapids and located Williams. He was arrested without trouble.
Williams was processed at the Halifax County Sheriff’s Office where he was given a January 19 court date and confined to the county detention center without opportunity for bond.
Meanwhile, task force agents, members of the Burlington, Weldon, and Roanoke Rapids police departments and the Northampton County Sheriff’s Office continued to look for Starks throughout the night until his surrender Wednesday morning. Starks was processed and confined to the detention center without opportunity for bond.
Taylor said the Burlington Police Department was appreciative of the cooperation it received from the local agencies. “We came down on two different occasions. We got phenomenal cooperation, a lot of interviews, searches, so it’s always nice when you let people know you’re coming and they open the red carpet to let you do your job.”