Jurors spent less than a half-hour to determine the fate of Garyonded Stepney, finding him not guilty of first-degree murder in a Green Level shooting after a five day trial in Alamance County superior court.
The presiding judge, Doug Green, prosecutor Alex Bass, and defense attorney Don Carter spent most of the morning and early afternoon developing the judge’s charging instructions to the jury, which concluded shortly before 2:00 p.m. Tuesday afternoon.
Then the defense and prosecution spent a little over an hour-and-a-half in their closing arguments to the jury.
Carter emphasized that there was “no direct evidence” of Stepney’s involvement in the murder; the prosecution contended that Stepney and two accomplices had plotted to rob a drug “stash house” and were interrupted, leading to a shootout that left two dead.
Stepney was charged with in the murder of Alonzo Beltran Lara, one of the occupants of the Green Level mobile home where the shooting took place.
Stepney faces unrelated drug trafficking and other drug-related charges in Guilford and Forsyth counties.
