By Ryan Seals
News & Record
GREENSBORO, N.C. — A man who was once mere hours away from execution for his role in a drug-related killing was re- arrested earlier this month after police said he tried to kill the ex-girlfriend who testified against him 15 years ago.
Charles “Supreme” Walker, 45, who was previously convicted of first-degree murder in the 1992 slaying of 20-year-old Elmon Tito Davidson Jr., was arrested after police said he shot at Pamela Haizlip, his former girlfriend, on April 8.
Walker, who police said ran a Greensboro drug ring in the early 1990s, and Haizlip were both charged in Davidson’s death.
Davidson was bound, gagged and tortured. His throat was slit and then he was shot to death in a south Greensboro apartment in August 1992 when Walker accused him of attempting to rob Haizlip to steal drug money, according to court records.
Witnesses said Davidson’s body was placed in a Dumpster. His remains have never been recovered and are believed to be buried in Greensboro’s White Street landfill.
Haizlip took a deal with prosecutors, pleading guilty to conspiracy to commit murder in exchange for her testimony against Walker at his 1995 trial.
She served two years in jail; Walker was convicted of first-degree murder and given the death penalty.
Walker was 15 hours away from death in 2004 but was granted a stay of execution by the N.C. Supreme Court after the fairness of his trial was called into dispute.
That dispute arose when Walker’s lawyers argued they were never made privy to certain police files during the trial. His attorneys say that information could have discredited some of the state’s witnesses.
Walker was granted a new trial in 2007, but before it began, he pleaded guilty to accessory-after-the-fact of first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder. He was sentenced to 30 years in prison, 15 years of which was credited for time already served.
Walker got out of prison in April 2009 after his sentence was reduced through good conduct credits - allowed under old state sentencing guidelines in place for crimes that happened before October 1994.
Police say Walker - who authorities once dubbed Guilford County’s “highest security risk” - came back to Greensboro sometime after his release.
In November, police said, he began harassing Haizlip. According to court records, Walker started calling the woman and sending text messages that he was going to kill her.
Police said Walker tried to make good on those threats April 8 when he spotted Haizlip in the 700-block of Hyde Street in Smith Homes, shot at her with a handgun and then fled. She was not injured.
“Numerous persons said ‘Supreme’ was shooting at this lady. ... and some of us who have been here for a long time wondered how he had gotten out of prison,” said police Chief Tim Bellamy.
“He was dangerous then (in 1992) and the people in the community (during the April 8 shooting) were very fearful, and several said ‘that guy will shoot you and kill you.’ ”
With help from the FBI, police tracked Walker to a house off Cedar Fork Road. They arrested him during a High Point Road traffic stop April 9.
Police said they recovered several handguns from the vehicle, along with 14 grams of cocaine and four grams of marijuana.
“We determined he had been in Greensboro for a couple of weeks, yet we had no knowledge of it,” Bellamy said.
Haizlip, who declined to comment Wednesday, took out charges against Walker in February for cyberstalking and communicating threats.
In a witness statement submitted before a criminal magistrate, she wrote:
“I’m scared for me and my 3 kids life, due to the kind of things I know he would and can do. He also stated that I was going to pay for those 16½ years he did in prison.”
In all, Walker has been charged with multiple counts of assault with a deadly weapon, possession of a firearm by a felon, maintaining a vehicle for the sale of a controlled substance, harassing phone calls and cyberstalking.
He remains in jail on bonds totaling $875,000. His lawyer, Charles White, declined to comment on the case Wednesday.
As the charges play out, Walker will again cross paths with Chief District Attorney Howard Neumann, who prosecuted the 1992 murder trial and accepted the 2007 plea.
“I’m never surprised to see somebody who I’ve prosecuted appear with criminal charges again,” said Neumann, who added he was aware of Walker’s release from prison.
“He’s got pending charges, and we’ll review the evidence ... like we would with anyone else. His checkered past doesn’t make him any more or less a defendant in our eyes.”
Copyright 2010 News & Record