Hearing set for murder convict from '95 slaying
Apr. 25—A hearing is set for 10 a.m. Monday, April 29 for a 51-year-old Sanford man who was convicted of first-degree murder in a July 1995 shooting.
Rakim Shabazz Goins, aka William Earl Goins, was tried by a jury and convicted on Jan. 27, 1998 in the shooting death of Sherman Demil Ray of Charlotte. He was also convicted of robbery with a dangerous weapon and conspiracy to commit robbery and conspiracy to traffic in drugs.
Lee County Superior Court Judge C. Winston Gilchrist set the hearing "out of an abundance of caution," noting the case is subject to judicial review after 25 years. Goins was sentenced to life in prison without parole.
The case file depicts a drug deal gone bad in which Goins and another man, Dwight Leander Solomon, were in an apartment kitchen with two other men, one of whom was Ray. Ray and Edward Laydon Anderson came from Charlotte in July 1995 with two females and were at an apartment in the 2800 block of Eames Drive in Sanford, according to a statement from Anderson.
Anderson said he and Ray were lying on the kitchen floor when Anderson heard a gun go off and saw a "dark, chubby guy with his arm extended toward Sherm." Ray was then holding his head. The probable cause of death was a gunshot wound to the head, according to a medical examiner's report.
According to a statement from Detective David M. Smith, Anderson said Solomon shot Ray.
Vincenta Andrea Baldwin is listed as a state's witness in the case.
Baldwin said "Sherman wanted to talk to Dwight about moving some dope."
Baldwin made a reference to crack cocaine being cut into sections and weighed by Ray and Solomon.
At least two people said a guy named "Luke" and Solomon were the two men who interacted with Anderson and Ray and subsequently fled the scene in a blue 1981 Chevy Camaro. The North Carolina Department of Adult Correction lists Goins' nickname as "Lou."
Solomon, now 51, who had a lengthy criminal record with multiple felony convictions, took a plea deal for robbery with a dangerous weapon and three other felonies and was given a sentence of 89 to 116 months in prison. A charge of first-degree murder was dismissed. Solomon currently faces felony charges of larceny and conspiracy in Wake County stemming from Dec. 1.
Another co-defendant, Randolph Thomas Foxx Jr., 47, took a plea deal for accessory to first-degree murder after the fact and two other felonies. He remained outside of the apartment at the time of the murder but apparently left in the Camaro with Goins and Solomon, according to statements.
At the time of the crime, Goins and Solomon were 22 and Foxx was 18.
Solomon and Foxx testified on behalf of the state. Smith testified that a .22 caliber bullet was retrieved from Ray. Anderson apparently did not testify.
The murder trial was held in Johnston County. It was prosecuted by assistant district attorney William G. Huggins Jr. Presiding Judge Narley L. Cashwell pronounced sentence.
Goins appealed his conviction, but the verdict was upheld by the North Carolina Court of Appeals in May 1999.
