EDENTON — An Edenton man was sentenced to a minimum of just over 16 years in prison Tuesday following his guilty plea to second-degree murder in the shooting death of a Columbia man in 2021.
Nikale Ereon Walton, 25, entered the guilty plea to the lesser charge in Chowan County Superior Court following the start of his murder trial for the March 9, 2021 death of Dominic Basnight. Walton was sentenced by Superior Court Judge Andrew Womble to a minimum prison term of 195 months and a maximum term of 240 months.
Walton also pleaded guilty to numerous probation violations, including possession of a weapon by a felon. Womble set Walton's sentence for those convictions to run concurrently with his sentence for second-degree murder, according to a press release from the town of Edenton.
Following an investigation by Edenton police and the N.C. Bureau of Investigation, Walton and a second man, Darren Valentine, were arrested and charged with murder in March 2021, a little over a week after Basnight's shooting death.
According to the release, Edenton police responded to a shots-fired incident in the 700 block of Cabarrus Street the night of March 9, 2021. Minutes later, officers received a call from Vidant Chowan Hospital (now ECU Health Chowan Hospital) that a "critically injured" person had arrived at the hospital emergency room. By the time officers got to the hospital, Basnight had died from his injuries, the release said.
District Attorney Jeff Cruden, whose office prosecuted Walton, said evidence and witness testimony developed by police indicated that "there was an argument between some of the parties" present the night Basnight was shot "over a $400 debt owed from an overdue car rental."
Cruden said Walton was not a party to the argument "but he inserted himself into the situation nonetheless."
"After the victim allegedly told Mr. Walton 'he wouldn’t be such a big man without the gun,' he shot into the vehicle, killing Mr. Basnight," Cruden said in an email.
At the time of Basnight's shooting death, Walton was on felony probation and couldn't legally possess the gun "he used to kill Mr. Basnight," Cruden said.
Cruden said Walton's murder trail began on Monday with jury selection and prosecutors Zack Beasley and Lee Malco began presenting evidence in the case on Tuesday. Walton agreed to plead guilty to second-degree murder after his co-defendant, Valentine, testified for the state on Tuesday, Cruden said.
"Typically I disfavor pleading cases after a jury has been empaneled, but after consulting with the victim’s family, I authorized allowing the plea to take place," he said.
Cruden said Basnight's family agreed with the decision to offer Walton a deal to plead guilty to second-degree murder.
"The victim’s family was a pleasure to work with and were very much in agreement with the plea that was tendered," he said.
Cruden said Valentine's case is scheduled for an administrative hearing on Aug. 26 where he anticipates Walton's co-defendant will also agree to plead guilty in the case.
"My ADAs (assistant district attorneys) and Mr. Valentine’s attorney are discussing the details of the plea at this time," he said.
In the town of Edenton's press release, police Chief Henry King thanked Cruden and his staff as well as Edenton officers for their work on the case.
“With everyone's hard work, we were able to give the family some closure," he said. "This type of dedication and perseverance keeps the community feeling safe. When everyone works together, we produce excellent results in court.”
According to Chowan Herald arrest reports, Walton's history of arrests include one in 2016 when he was 17. He was charged with one felony count of possession of a stolen firearm, one felony count of possession of a controlled substance on jail premises and one misdemeanor count of going armed to the terror of people.
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