GREENSBORO, N.C. — A man accused of shooting and killing an off-duty Greensboro police officer will remain in jail without bond, a judge ordered on Tuesday.
18-year-old Jamere Foster faces a first-degree murder charge in the shooting death of Sergeant Philip Dale Nix. Two other suspects involved in the shooting also appeared in court.
28-year-old James Morrison and 18-year-old Z’quriah Blackwell were both charged with accessory after the fact. Blackwell received a $500,000 bond. Morrison remains in jail under a hold. He was on pre-trial release for pending charges out of Forsyth County. He has five other convictions on his record.
The district attorney's office presented the evidence they have in the case. They explained the three suspects arrived at the Sheetz gas station in Colfax late Saturday afternoon with a plan to steal beer. The district attorney's office said the three pulled into a handicapped spot, and Blackwell stayed inside the car while Foster and Morrison went inside the store for less than a minute. Police said the two men each stole five cases of beer.
The DA's office said Nix was sitting at a table outside where he usually sat to drink coffee and work on his laptop. They said he had his badge and gun with him when the robbery caught his attention and he intervened.
The DA's office continued explaining that Nix walked around the car to the driver's side that's when Foster fired five shots, striking Nix twice.
Investigators said as the suspects took off, Morrison told Foster to remove the registration plates because “we are hot now.”
The judge deemed Foster a danger to the community and said he would remain in custody. He will be appointed a capital defender because of the murder charge.
"A hearing will be held at some point to determine whether the state is going to pursue the death penalty in your case this is just a horrible, horrible, thing," said Judge Tabatha Holliday.
While Judge Holliday explained to Foster that he could face the death penalty he interrupted her and threw his hands up in the air, she advised him not to speak.
Foster had no prior convictions.
All three suspects will appear in court again on April 2.
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