Rickie Allen Pearson Jr. LA GRANGE - Rickie Allen Pearson, Jr., 29, of La Grange, N.C. passed away on Wednesday, April 8, 2009. Allen served as a Detective for the Lenoir County Sheriff's Department. He was a member of the Lenoir-Greene-Jones Law Enforcement Association; a Certified BLET Instructor at Lenoir Community College, and a member of Airy Grove Christian Church. He was also active in the Hugo Vol0unteer Fire Department for a number of years. Survivors include his wife Katherine Woodyard Pearson of La Grange; mother, Joy Hall Pearson of Hugo; father, Rickie Allen Pearson, Sr. and wife Susie, of Deep Run; sister, Kelly Pearson Johnson of Kinston; mother and father-in-law, Gary and Sue Woodyard of Goldsboro; sister-in-law, Jennifer Stevens and hus-band Kevin; nephew Benjamin Stevens and niece, Sarah Elizabeth Stevens. The family will receive friends from 6-9 p.m. Friday, April 10, 2009, at Howard-Carter Funeral Home. Funeral services will be held at the Performing Arts Center at Kinston High School at 11 a.0m., Saturday, April 11, 2009, with the Reverends Allen Ham and Rick Vernon officiating. Graveside services will follow at Pinelawn Memorial Park with the Reverends John Isenburg and Andrew Clark officiating. In lieu of flowers, the family has requested that memorials be made to the Lenoir Community College Foundation, P. O. Box 188, Kinston, NC 28502 for the Rickie "Allen" Pearson, Jr. BLET Scholarship. Funeral arrangements by Howard-Carter Funeral Home. Sign the guest book at www.kinston.com. Sheriff's Detective killed in the line of duty Comments 5 | Recommend 16 Homicide in Craven County leads to shootout in Grifton that kills two; one detective injured April 8, 2009 - 9:02 PM Justin Schoenberger Staff Writer GRIFTON - One Lenoir County Sheriff's Office detective is dead and another remains hospitalized after police say a man killed a woman in Craven County, drove her car to Grifton and shot at lawmen as he hid in the woods late Tuesday night. Detective Allen Pearson, 29, died at Lenoir Memorial Hospital after being shot in the shoulder. According to LCSO Maj. Chris Hill, Pearson is the first LCSO deputy, detective or officer to die in the line of duty. "He died doing what he loved doing - and that was being a law enforcement officer and protecting and serving the public," Hill said of Pearson. Pearson's partner, detective Ryan Dawson, was shot in the neck. He underwent surgery to remove bullet fragments Wednesday at Pitt County Memorial Hospital, where Sheriff Billy Smith said he is "conscious, talking and alert." Dawson will undergo another surgery this morning to remove fragments that could not be removed Wednesday. The alleged shooter, 43-year-old Clarence Douglas Phillips of Bridgeton, died in a shootout with police. "Why he did it, I don't know," Smith said of Phillips. "I don't know why he would shoot her and then come over here in a rural area ... and just be shooting." Pearson and Dawson were part of the LCSO's Special Response Unit, which was called in to assist deputies responding to a shots-fired call in the Tick Bite Road area of Grifton late Tuesday night. Residents reported seeing a motorist park his car, get out, go into the woods and begin firing a gun in the air. The first deputies on the scene ran the license plate of the car Phillips was reported to be driving and found it was owned by a Bridgeton woman, who Craven County investigators later found shot to death in her home. The Special Response Unit, including Pearson and Dawson, went into the woods to find Phillips after a State Highway Patrol helicopter equipped with an infrared locating device determined Phillips' whereabouts. "When the team encountered the suspect in the woods, the suspect started shooting at them," Hill said. Frank Griffin - who lives near where the shootout occurred - said he went outside Tuesday night to check on his dogs after he heard several gunshots. "He shot while I was out there checking my dogs," Griffin said of Phillips, "but I didn't ever see him. "But I heard him talking (about the dogs barking) and then he shot." Griffin said he spoke to a young-looking policeman with dark hair about 30 minutes after he checked his dogs, but didn't ask his name. "It might have been the deputy sheriff who got killed - I don't know," Griffin said. "He put on a bullet-proof vest while I was out there talking to him." Phillips started his deadly rampage in Craven County, killing Cynthia Tillet Knighten. Craven County deputies found her body in her bedroom on Frank Avenue in Bridgeton around 10:30 p.m. Tuesday after Lenoir County deputies contacted them. Craven investigators had to break into her home when no one answered the door. Phillips had a long criminal record. He got out of prison in 2005 after he was convicted of assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill. He had been convicted of assault with a deadly weapon, damage to property, drunk and disorderly conduct, and felony breaking and entering. Most of the day Wednesday, troopers blocked non-residents from going near the scene of the shooting in Grifton while the State Bureau of Investigation collected bullets, shell casings and took photographs. Troopers turned away numerous vehicles, including several family members of residents who lived near the investigation, which lasted into early Wednesday evening. Sheriff Smith described the mood around the office in the wake of the shooting as "somber," but added it was a reminder of the risks law enforcement faces daily. "The officers realize what's going on," Smith said. "We've lost an officer that everybody knew and worked with. "Yesterday, we were talking to him - today, we can't." Staff Writer Jon Dawson, New Bern Sun Journal Staff Writer Francine Sawyer and Free Press Managing Editor Bryan C. Hanks contributed to this report. Hero laid to rest Hundreds attend funeral of Sheriff's Det. Rickie "Allen" Pearson on Saturday April 11, 2009 - 10:26 PM David Anderson Staff Writer Ed Hay estimated it took more than three hours to travel to Kinston on Saturday, but, for him, it was worth the effort to attend the funeral of a fellow officer. "It really wasn't that far to travel," said Hay, a deputy with the Portsmouth, Va., Sheriff's Office. "Any time there's a tragedy like this we want to show our support as best we can." Hay and a fellow Portsmouth deputy, both motorcycle officers, helped lead the funeral procession for Lenoir County Sheriff's Detective Rickie "Allen" Pearson Jr., who was killed in the line of duty Wednesday. Police officers, state troopers and sheriff's deputies from across North Carolina - and some from out of state - made their way to Kinston to pay their respects to Pearson, his family and fellow Lenoir County deputies. Local firefighters and paramdedics also attended. "When one goes down, it's like (he's) part of the family, so of course we're going to come up here and pay our regards and recognition to the family," Mecklenburg County Deputy Nelson Davie said. MPO1 D.B. Osborne of the Gaston County Police Department said law enforcement agencies throughout the state were notified of Pearson's death through their various computer networks. "The family's lost a great deal," Osborne said. A standing-room-only crowd of hundreds of law enforcement officers and local citizens filled the Performing Arts Center at Kinston High School for Pearson's funeral service, which was led by the revs. Allen Ham and Rick Vernon. "On behalf of all the people in the audience and this community we want to say, ‘Thank you,' for guarding us while we sleep and while we work and while we pray," Vernon said to the officers present. The pastor asked the audience members to stand and applaud the officers, which they did; the sound of clapping filled the auditorium. "Allen's legacy, first and foremost is, he is a child of God," Vernon said. "He was a husband, a son, a brother, a dedicated public servant. Allen Pearson was a hero; every one of you are heroes." Support pours out from surrounding agencies Officers from around the state express sympathy for Pearson April 11, 2009 - 10:28 PM David Anderson Staff Writer When asked why he made the two-hour trek from Emerald Isle on Saturday for Detective Rickie "Allen" Pearson's funeral, Ofc. Mark Odom said simply: "It's a brotherhood." Odom was one of many police officers from North Carolina and elsewhere who visited Kinston on Saturday for the funeral. "It's about respect for him and his family," his fellow Emerald Isle officer Toby Henderson added. Local agencies also expressed their support for the Lenoir County Sherff. Greene County Sheriff Lemmie Smith said his deputies have been wearing black mourning bands on their badges, flags have been flown at half-staff at the county courthouse and he has offered assistance to Pearson's family. "Anything we can do to help, we will," he said. Maj. Chris Frye of the Jones County Sheriff's Office said deputies have also been asked to wear the black bands.
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