State seeking death penalty against couple charged in missing Hope Mills woman's death
The state is seeking the death penalty against two people charged in the death of a Hope Mills woman whose remains were found 11 weeks after she went missing in 2020.
During a brief hearing in Cumberland County Superior Court on Thursday, Assistant District Attorney Rob Thompson announced the decision to try Beverly Ann Harris, 38, for her life in the 2020 kidnapping, rape and slaying of Rebecca Michelle Fellows, 40, also known as Rebecca Michelle Garcia-James.
Cumberland County Superior Court Judge Jim Ammons asked Harris’ attorney, Antonio Gerald, if Harris understood the magnitude of the decision. “She could be sentenced to die in the death chamber in Raleigh,” Ammons said.
Related:Possible remains of missing woman found; 2 charged with first-degree murder
Gerald said Harris understood.
Harris' boyfriend and co-defendant, Miguel Angel Navarro, 35, learned Wednesday the state was also seeking the death penalty against him, according to documents from the Wednesday hearing. The court record notes that Navarro is a former Army soldier stationed at Fort Bragg and at the time of his arrest was attending the Fayetteville Fire Department training academy.
Harris, of Raeford, and Navarro, of Hope Mills, are each charged with first-degree murder, dismembering human remains, felony conspiracy to conceal death, conspiracy to commit first-degree kidnapping, first-degree kidnapping and conspiracy to commit first-degree murder. Fellows was reported missing by her family July 9, 2020, police said. She was last seen about midnight in the parking lot of Manna Church on Legion Road, according to a Hope Mills police report.
Surveillance camera footage from a nearby church captured Fellows being dropped off in the church parking lot and then three minutes later a Dodge Challenger turning into the parking lot, according to a search warrant in the case. Navarro was the registered owner of a dark gray Dodge Challenger, which was later seized and searched, court documents state.
The warrant also notes that GPS data from Fellows' cellphone places the phone at Navarro's Pageant Court home between 12:20 a.m. and 7:30 a.m. the day she disappeared. Her phone either died or was turned off after that time, the warrants state.
Harris and Navarro were arrested Sept. 23, 2020. Fellows’ remains were recovered the following day from a rural road outside of Benson off Interstate 40 in Johnston County. A motive for the slaying was not detailed in the court records.
Related:Remains of missing Hope Mills woman Rebecca Fellows identified
Harris and Navarro are being held without bail in the Cumberland County jail.
Public safety reporter Lexi Solomon can be reached at ABSolomon@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on The Fayetteville Observer: State seeks death penalty for two charged in Hope Mills mom's death
