Speagle will not face death penalty

Michael Speagle, 19, of Hickory, will not face the death penalty when he is tried for the death of 21-year-old Jason Eric McCreary, based on last week's Rule 24 hearing in Caldwell County Superior Court.

Other charges against Speagle include possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. He was convicted in January of felonious larceny and breaking and entering from offenses in August 2007. Speagle was arrested and charged for his involvement in a theft ring spanning four counties.

According to police reports, Speagle allegedly shot McCreary in the neck with a handgun during an altercation in the driveway of 33 Central Ave., in Granite Falls shortly before 3 a.m. June 17. Investigators said there had been an ongoing dispute between Speagle and McCreary for some time, and that the verbal disagreement turned physical.

Speagle turned himself in at the Caldwell County Sheriff's Office the afternoon of June 17. He was taken into custody and charged with McCreary's murder.

Speagle has been in the Caldwell County Detention Center since his arrest, being held without bond.

He is next due in court on Sept. 15.

In other court action related to the murder, the cases against Nathan Gibson and Jeremy Allen Pruitt, both were continued to a later date.

Pruitt, 22, of Granite Falls, and Gibson, 23, of Rhodhiss, were charged with one count each of felonious accessory after the fact of a felony (murder). They each were given a $200,000 secured bond and placed in the Caldwell County Detention Center.

Charges against Pruitt, who lives at the site of the shooting, and Gibson are a result of their involvement in the disappearance of the weapon, according to the Granite Falls Police Department.

Five people, including 21-year-old Kenneth James and 19-year-old Jessica Dawn Pennington, both of Lenoir, have been arrested in connection with McCreary's death. They were arrested and charged with misdemeanor resist, obstruct, delay, and misdemeanor common law obstruction of justice for their involvement with the crime. Investigators believe Shehan and Pennington transported McCreary from the original crime scene.

Pruitt's next scheduled hearing will be Aug. 11 and Gibson is next due in court during the Sept. 15 session.

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