A Bahamian student sits in a North Carolina jail cell after a deadly getaway landed him in prison.
Tamerco Cunningham, 21, who should have graduated from St Augustine’s College in Raleigh, NC, got caught up in an “ill-conceived” home invasion plot that left his best friend dead, tarnished his name with armed robbery and kidnapping charges and linked him to over a dozen other felony charges.
According to an article in The News and The Observer, Cunningham was sentenced to between three years and four months and four years and nine months in prison.
As part of a plea arrangement, Cunningham pleaded guilty in October to five counts each of kidnapping and robbery with a dangerous weapon. Under the arrangement, Cunningham could have spent 14 years in prison.
The News and The Observer stated that investigators think Cunningham was one of three men who broke into a West Raleigh apartment on Feb. 16 last year, looking for drugs and money, and then robbed five people living there.
Moments after the robbery, the three men took off on a high-speed escape, police said. The getaway car, a gold Infiniti, topped 70 mph before a front tyre blew out and the car, driven by Cunningham, hit a tree.
Cunningham ran from the scene after threatening to shoot a Good Samaritan, according to witnesses and police. The man had stopped at the crash and offered to help Cunningham’s friend and fellow Bahamian student, Claudis Caldwell, who was trapped in the back seat with broken ribs and a punctured lung.
Caldwell, 22, died from his injuries while in the mangled car’s back seat.
Prosecutors tried to slap a first-degree murder charge on Cunningham, citing that since Caldwell died during the commission of a felony, a murder charge must be lodged. But Cunningham’s lawyers filed a motion to dismiss the charge against him, claiming that “Even if [Cunningham] was in the car, we still don’t think he should be charged with murder,” his lawyer said, noting that the robbery and the accident were separate incidents.
“A blown tyre doesn’t mean you murdered anybody,” said Hill.
The third suspect involved in such incident is Alain Sanders, 26, of Raleigh. Sanders is said to have a criminal record dating back to 1995 that includes convictions for possession of cocaine and stolen goods, according to court records.
Police think Caldwell and Sanders, both aspiring rappers, met at a Raleigh recording studio. Caldwell introduced Sanders to Cunningham, police said.
During the robbery, police said Sanders wielded a knife and stabbed people, while demanding marijuana and money. Sanders was sitting in the getaway car’s passenger seat when it crashed, and immediately fled the scene, police said.
Cunningham was suppose to graduate from St Augustine’s College this weekend.
By: IANTHIA SMITH, The Nassau Guardian
