Man jailed on second-degree murder charge

A man is being held in the Edgecombe County Detention Center on a charge of second-degree murder, authorities said.

Artayia Cooper, 48, is accused of fatally shooting another man nearly eight months ago at a motorcycle club just southeast of downtown Rocky Mount, city police said in a statement Monday afternoon.

After an investigation, Cooper was identified as the suspect in the death of Donald Joseph, 55, police said, and he was charged after consultation with the District Attorney’s Office.

Cooper was arrested Thursday, and his bond is set at $500,000, according to Edgecombe County Detention Center records online. N.C. District Court records online state that Cooper is also charged with possession of a firearm by a felon.

Police officers responded at 9:35 p.m. on Nov. 26, 2023, to the All Roun Huzlaz Motorcycle Club in the 300 block of Tarboro Street about a shooting.

Joseph was shot and killed after an altercation that had occurred inside the club, police have said. Emergency medical services personnel and first responders attempted life-saving measures, but Joseph died at the scene from his injuries.

Police have said that the altercation that preceded the shooting indicated this was not a random event and that the people involved all appeared to have been known to each other.

Although second-degree murder in North Carolina is considered intentionally killing someone with a reckless disregard for life, the charge differs from first-degree murder in that it is not carried out with prior thought or planning.

According to N.C. Public Safety records, Cooper has a list of convictions from 2018 to as far back as 1995 in the Twin Counties, including a conviction in 2000 in Nash County for felony common law robbery and misdemeanor assault inflicting serious injury. Common law robbery occurs when someone forcibly takes property from another person by using intimidation, threats or force.

The records also state that Cooper has been convicted for damaging property and for theft-related offenses, illegal drug-related offenses and traffic-related violations.