Roxboro stabbing was romance gone wrong, neighbors say
ROXBORO, NC (WTVD) -- Multiple local law enforcement agencies including the Person County Sheriff's Office and the North Carolina Highway Patrol are joining the Roxboro Police Department in a search for a man wanted in connection with the death Monday of a Person County woman.
Pictures from Chopper 11 HD showed crime scene tape up around a home in the Brookstone Mobile Home Park on Hurdle Mills Road.
Police said 32-year-old Nolla Bently was stabbed multiple times at her home in the 100 block of Sandstone Way.
Detectives have a first-degree murder warrant for 35-year-old Sherrod Avery Stewart, but he is not in custody.
"I came down here and she was stepping out the front door," said neighbor Karmeshia Daye. "She stood on the porch and that's when her body collapsed."
A teary-eyed Tracy Rondeau, who described Bently as her best friend told ABC11 that she witnessed the crime. "He stabbed her 14 times in front of me and I couldn't do anything to help her. I'm the one that held her when she died in my arms."
Neighbors told ABC11 that Bently was romantically involved with Stewart.
Richard Stockman said Bently was the mother of his children, and that he tried to warn her about her involvement with Stewart.
"She was a very good woman. She took care of the house real good, and she was excellent," Stockman said. "Yeah we had our little disputes, like most marriages, but most part kept a real good house, make sure her kids were in school.
"I warned her about this incident," Stockman said. "The guy was no good. He's a coward, and he just took my five kids' mother away from them."
Stewart's family members are asking him to end the manhunt, and urging him to turn himself in.
"There's no need for you to keep running," Lashada Sanford, Stewart's niece said. "Like I told you, your mom, she'll be able to take it if she can see you above ground, but if something happens and you're below ground, she's not going to be able to handle that."
Bently's friend Rondeau says she wants to see Stewart behind bars.
"I hope you go to jail for a long time," Rondeau said. "You took my best friend away from me, and I will never forgive you. I hope you get what you deserve."
Stewart is not believed to be armed, police said.
Jerry Stewart, the suspect's brother, also had a message for his sibling: "Turn yourself in. You'll be better off and let God work things out in (your) life."
Earlier, Southern Middle School and South Elementary School in Roxboro were put on lockdown Monday after the stabbing in the nearby neighborhood.
Anyone with information on Stewart's whereabouts is asked to call the Roxboro Police Department at (336) 599-8345.
Police said the nearby schools were put on lockdown as a precaution.
