Scotland Neck’s police chief and captain have resigned just shy of a week after the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation announced it was launching an investigation into the department after charges were dropped in a 2021 shooting death.

Town Mayor Eddie Braxton said Chief Tommy Parker’s resignation was requested by the town board after the former chief received a letter taking away his ability to testify in Halifax County court. He said Captain Marvin Hilliard received the same letter and tendered his resignation.

“Because Captain Hilliard was involved with it we’re down to three officers and a part-time officer,” Braxton said. “Chief Parker was the only officer to actually live in the town of Scotland Neck so that makes it twice as difficult. People don’t want to move to rural communities anymore to work for some reason.”

As of this report Braxton said he hadn’t been in contact with the Halifax County Sheriff’s Office but said, “He (Sheriff Tyree Davis) has helped us in the past and hopefully he will help.”

The mayor said he is aware that the sheriff’s office is thin at times.

He said the town may attempt to hire the recruitment firm Developmental Associates as Roanoke Rapids did after Shane Guyant announced his retirement. “I don’t know whether we can afford to go through an agency like that or not. We only have but so much money.”

Asked about his impressions of the resignations, Braxton said, “You know, we had two good officers that made mistakes in processing a crime. But we still feel like there was adequate information and evidence to get a conviction, but it wasn’t enough to make our district attorney happy.”

The SBI said last week that the request to investigate was made by the district attorneys for the Seventh and Eighth Prosecutorial Districts and was related to the Scotland Neck Police Department’s handling of the murder of Latoya Lawrence.

Antonio Clark and Akeshia Clark were charged in the August 7, 2021 shooting death of Lawrence.

The police department said at the time it responded to what was originally reported as a single-vehicle crash at the intersection of Grace and Tenth streets.

What they found, however, was that Lawrence had died inside her vehicle from a gunshot wound.

According to eCourts records, a first-degree murder charge against Mr. Clark was dismissed without leave in Halifax County Superior Court last week.

Charges of conspiracy and discharging a weapon into a vehicle with serious injury had been dismissed without leave against him on August 30, 2021, according to eCourts records.

Mrs. Clark last week had charges of conspiracy and discharging a weapon into an occupied vehicle with serious injury dismissed against her without leave.

The dismissal form says there was insufficient evidence to warrant prosecution against the couple following “a thorough review of all evidence and conferring with law enforcement.”

The state, according to the form, did not believe the case would survive a motion to suppress. “The state has an obligation to preclude evidence from trial that is obtained in violation of a defendant’s constitutional rights,” the document says. “Statements from law enforcement that potential evidence, not received by the state, were lost, or destroyed, further hinder the state’s ability to effectively prosecute this matter.”