Grand jury returns murder indictment for 2 brothers linked to death of Wake County Deputy Ned Byrd
WAKE COUNTY, N.C. (WTVD) -- A grand jury indicted two brothers Tuesday on murder charges in the death of Wake County Deputy Ned Byrd.
Arturo Marin-Sotelo, 29, was previously charged in Byrd's murder, but Tuesday's grand jury indictment also identified his brother, 25-year-old Alder Alfonso Marin-Sotelo, as a suspect.
The indictments do not go into details about what role investigators believe each brother played in the killing. Both indictments read exactly the same: "Defendant named above willfully, unlawfully, and feloniously did kill and murder Wake County Sheriff's Office Deputy Ned Byrd, with malice aforethought."
Alder Marin-Sotelo is being held in Forsyth County but is expected to be moved to Wake County at some point.
Byrd was shot and killed earlier this month in eastern Wake County.
Family, friends and members of law enforcement said their final goodbyes to Byrd in Raleigh last Friday.
Jason Culbreth considered Byrd a brother. They bonded over mixed martial arts. It's a friendship that stretched for years. He spoke at the 48-year-old's funeral.
"Hopefully they got the right person and they have irrefutable evidence in what they did then we can see justice get served," said Culbreth.
While he wants answers, Culbreth is reminded those answers won't bring his friend back.
"The only good about hearing about that is just the closure of the whole thing. It's never going I bring my friend back," Culbreth said. "There are many instances where I miss him. Just the other day, I was thinking about him trying to go mountain bike riding and I was always borrowing his bikes."
The scene of the crime
Sometime between 11 p.m. Aug. 11 and 1 a.m. Aug. 12, Byrd was shot multiple times.
He was wearing a protective vest and had gotten out of his unmarked SUV while on patrol on Battle Bridge Road near Auburn Knightdale Road. He got out of his vehicle to check on something and left his canine partner, Sasha, inside.
Investigators have video from the scene of the crime. They previously released images showing a white truck (thought to be a Chevrolet Colorado or a GMC Canyon) that was at the scene around the time of the killing. Sources told ABC11 that the truck was later found in Winston Salem.
The Wake County Sheriff's Office said Tuesday night that it was not commenting on the developments and said the case is still an open investigation.
