NAACP calls for investigation of Holly Springs PD, Wake County DA in man's lengthy sentencing

APEX, N.C. (WTVD) -- The NAACP Raleigh-Apex branch held a news conference Tuesday to call for the release of a man they claim is innocent and who has been sentenced to 49-75 years in prison.

The organization is calling on the Public Integrity Section of the Department of Justice to investigate the Holly Springs Police Department and the Wake County district attorney's handling of the case.

In August, 48-year-old Holly Springs resident Henderson Atwater was convicted of several weapon charges for firing a pellet gun into several buildings in 2020.

The NAACP argues that the district attorney's office presented insufficient evidence against Atwater during the trial and that testimony in the case did not support Atwater being present at the scene.

The group wants the DOJ to get involved and Atwater released.

"His wrongful conviction is a stain on all of us who believe in the sanctity of the justice system," said Dr. Mark Vasconcellos of the NAACP Raleigh-Apex branch. "It is a stain of the promise of a system to protect the innocent and punish the guilty."

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