Suspects wanted in Rocky Mount homicide arrested after chase, crash in High Point

ROCKY MOUNT, N.C. (WTVD) -- Two people wanted in connection with an assault that left a man dead in Rocky Mount have been taken into custody, the Rocky Mount Police Department said Tuesday evening,

The deadly incident happened Saturday just before 1 a.m. Officers responded to the 900 block of Long Avenue after getting a ShotSpotter notification.

A short time later, officers got another notification and found a gunshot victim lying on the sidewalk in the 900 block of Tessie Street.

Police said 39-year-old Jermaine Pone died at the scene.

During the investigation, police identified a suspect vehicle, a 2001 Toyota Camry. The car was entered into the National Crime Information Center (NCIC) as a felony-wanted vehicle.

Three days later, the information paid off.

Earlier Tuesday, High Point police told Rocky Mount detectives that they found the suspect vehicle.

The Camry was involved in a high-speed chase and subsequently crashed.

Authorities arrested David Edwards, 28, and Melody Shipman, 31. They also found a firearm in their possession.

Rocky Mount detectives said evidence linked Edwards and Shipman to the Tessie Street homicide and added that it appears the couple, who are in a relationship, got into a fight with Pone.

Edwards and Shipman, who recently moved to the area from Chicago, were both charged with first-degree murder.

High Point Police also charged Edwards and Shipman with possession of a firearm by convicted felons. Edwards was also charged with felony speeding to elude arrest and other traffic charges related to the chase.

Edwards and Shipman are both being held without bond at a Guilford County detention center.