Rockingham man charged with murder in suspected stabbing death

ROCKINGHAM — A man is facing a single county of felony murder following an apparent altercation.

According to the Richmond County Sheriff’s Office, deputies responded to a call of someone possibly being stabbed or shot Sunday, Aug. 11 on Cherokee Street, off of Midway Road west of Rockingham.

Deputies reportedly arrived to find 56-year-old Timothy Maurice Terry, of Rockingham, lying dead on a wheelchair ramp, with three people standing nearby.

According to the sheriff’s office, investigators spoke to witnesses and determined Terry had been in an altercation earlier in the day with 61-year-old Jerry Lee Cheek, of Rockingham.

Investigators say it appears Terry suffered stab wounds and his body was sent to the medical examiner to determine the official cause of death.

Cheek was arrested and charged with murder and is currently being held without bond in the Richmond County Jail. He is scheduled to appear in court Aug. 29.

Records with the N.C. Department of Adult Correction show Cheek has been violent in the past.

Cheek’s most recent conviction, in 2008, was for assault on a female. His probation was revoked a month after his conviction and he spent two months behind bars.

In 2003, Cheek was convicted in Montgomery County on two counts of communicating threats.

Records show Cheek has also been twice convicted of driving while impaired: 1988 in Montgomery County; and 1995 in Richmond County.

All defendants facing criminal charges are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.

This is the third homicide in Richmond County within the past several weeks.

Investigators say 17-year-old Damarion Wall was shot and killed off of Midway Road on July 23. The sheriff’s office has charged 18-year-old Kevin Jonathan Murphy and an unnamed 17-year-old, both of Raeford, in Wall’s death.

Murphy is still being held without bond and is scheduled to appear in court Aug. 15.

The RCSO also investigated a suspected murder suicide on Aug. 4 in Hoffman.