| September
2, 2005 |
| |
| UPDATE:
Murder Suspect Caught in Kentucky |
| |
Murder suspect
Ker Vue (right),
wanted for the fatal shooting of a
16-year-old Freedom High School student, was arrested around 12:00 EDT this
afternoon in Kentucky.
Burke investigators, acting on a tip, contacted
the Lexington County Sheriff's Office in Kentucky after learning Vue was on his
way to Minnesota on a Greyhound bus after purchasing a ticket in Charlotte. The
bus was scheduled to make a stop around 11:30 in the city of Lexington,
Kentucky. |
 |
|
| According to Detective Sgt. Robert Beall and
Special Agent Marc Sharpe of the N.C. State Bureau of investigation, deputies
with Lexington County approached Vue as he was seated on the bus. The man
reportedly offered no resistance and told officers he knew why they were
there. |
| |
| Sharpe said the deputies arrested Vue and
confiscated a bag which contained tools that are used in acts of burglary. Vue
was apparently unarmed, Sharpe said. |
| |
| Vue is being held without bond, and
investigators will travel to Lexington as soon as possible if he waives
extradition, Beall said. |
| |
| Authorities were investigating the death of Noua
Xiong, 16, of 1095 Conley Road, Morganton. Xiong was found dead inside a
wrecked vehicle on Mount Olive Church Road around 9:22 PM on Wednesday
night. |
| |
| The death was originally thought to be traffic
accident-related, but circumstances changed when the medical examiner checked
Xiong's body at Grace Hospital on Thursday morning and discovered what appeared
to be bullet holes, according to Burke County Sheriff John T. McDevitt. An
autopsy conducted Friday morning confirmed that Xiong had been shot twice. |
| |
 |
Prior to the autopsy,
McDevitt directed his criminal investigations division to work the case as a
homicide.
Around 5:00 PM Thursday, Det. Sgt. Robert Beall stopped a
black Honda Civic near exit 118 on Interstate 40, after learning that a car of
that description could be involved in the case.
The driver, Tony Tu Ly
(left), 21, of 1107 1st Street Place SE, Conover,
was arrested after Beall located a |
handgun inside the car that had been reported stolen
from Conover. The gun is believed to be the weapon that killed Xiong, McDevitt
said. |
| |
| According to information McDevitt said his
investigators uncovered, Xiong and Ly had made plans to drag race on Mount
Olive Church Road on Wednesday night, after Xiong left his job at Hardees on
Burkemont Avenue. |
| |
| Detectives believe that Ly and Vue, 26, of 6287
Bollinger Loop, Morganton, went to Mount Olive Church Road and met Xiong to
begin the drag race. |
| |
| "It was just before the race started that
something went wrong," McDevitt said. "We have not established a clear-cut
motive, but we believe that Noua Xiong was shot by Vue, who was starting the
race with a handgun. It appears Xiong drove away with fatal gunshot wounds and
subsequently wrecked." |
|
|
| Ly was jailed on murder charges last night, and
the murder warrant was issued on Vue. Detectives spent most of the night
and early morning hours looking for him without success. |
| |
| Vue was reportedly a member of a gang in
California before moving to North Carolina, according to what CID Lt. Becky
Brendle said she learned from a member of his family. |
| |
| His arrest record shows convictions in
California for possession manufacturing or sale of dangerous weapons, and
possession of stolen goods. |
| |
| Xiong, a Freedom High School student, was
described Thursday as a good student who was in the top third of his class.
Detectives spent much of Thursday afternoon at the school speaking with his
friends and acquaintances. One detective said almost all of the students spoke
highly of Xiong's character. |
| |
| McDevitt and Brendle praised Beall, stating his
initiative to stop Ly's vehicle made the dominos fall into place. |
| |
| "I'm proud of our detective division," Brendle
said. "Yesterday at noon we had absolutely nothing to go on, but in several
hours time, our investigators uncovered enough information to charge two
suspects with murder." |
| |
| ************************************************************** |
| |
| Other Recent Press Releases: |
| |
|
|
| |
| To view previous press releases, visit our
archives
file |
