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WINTON – Deshawn Lamont Beverly, 28 of Cofield, pled guilty in Superior Court here Monday to second-degree murder and assault with a deadly weapon and was sentenced to 20-to-25 years in prison.

Beverly is the third of five individuals sentenced for the 2017 murder of Edward Phipps at Arrowhead Mobile Home Park near Woodland.

In January of this year, Eric M. Vaughan Jr., 28, of Woodland was convicted of first degree murder by a Northampton County jury and sentenced to life in prison without parole.

Deshy Gatling, 29, of Ahoskie pled guilty to second-degree murder and armed robbery in October of last year in Northampton County Superior Court.

Also charged but yet to stand trial are Raquan Omar Williams of Woodland, and Shirley Williams of Murfreesboro.

R. Williams is charged with first-degree murder, eight counts of first degree kidnapping, three counts of robbery with a dangerous weapon, and one count each of first degree burglary, larceny after breaking and entering, and injury to personal property.

S. Williams is charged with one count of first degree murder, two counts of first degree kidnapping, six counts of second degree kidnapping, one count of larceny after breaking and entering, one count of conspiracy to commit robbery with a dangerous weapon, one count of first degree burglary, one count of robbery with a dangerous weapon, and one count of injury to personal property.

The kidnapping charges were due to the fact there were at least eight individuals, to include children under the age of 16, at the Phipps residence at the time of the home invasion. They were all held against their will.

The armed robbery/home invasion crime occurred on Sept. 22, 2017. It was then that Phipps was shot and later passed away from his injuries.

At the time of his arrest in October of 2017, Beverly was charged with first degree murder, two counts of first degree kidnapping, six counts of second degree kidnapping, one count injury to personal property, one count robbery with a dangerous weapon, one count conspiracy to robbery with a dangerous weapon, one count of first degree burglary, and one count larceny after breaking & entering.

Northampton Sheriff Jack Smith thanked his investigators for their work on this case as well as the North Carolina SBI for their assistance.

“We would like to thank the District Attorney’s Office for an outstanding job with this case trial. We are thankful that the family members of the victim has justice on their side for the loss of their love one and justice for the other victims in this case for the horrific events they experienced on 9/22/2017,” Smith stated.