Two 17-year-olds have been charged with felony murder in the shooting of a 39-year-old man and will go through the adult court system, Roanoke Rapids police said this afternoon.

Sanjay Woolfolk and Ja’quezz Drew are currently being held at the Dillon Regional Juvenile Detention Center in Butner following their arrests and service of murder warrants in the May 10 shooting death of Chaze Richardson in the 100 block of Monroe Street.

The Halifax County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement early this morning that two 17-year-olds were in the company of Quamir Williams, 31, of Roanoke Rapids when he was stopped by the Community Action Team, which was conducting a saturation patrol in the area of Zoo Road and Highway 158.

Major Anzell Harris of the sheriff’s office said CAT Sergeant D. Harrison made the stop on Highway 158 at Highway 48 and that the two juveniles were rear passengers. They were acting suspiciously, and Harrison requested assistance.

CAT Sergeant G. Martin and Lieutenant D. Jenkins of the RRPD arrived to assist.

The driver, identified as Quamir Williams, 31, of Roanoke Rapids, did not possess a valid driver’s license. The two rear passengers were acting suspiciously, and Sergeant D. Harrison requested assistance.

CAT Sergeant G. Martin and Lieutenant D. Jenkins with the Roanoke Rapids Police Department arrived to assist.

A search of the vehicle revealed multiple firearms and magazines hidden in the trunk area. Upon further investigation, the firearms were found to be equipped with Glock switches, converting them into fully automatic machine guns.

Officers discovered that Woolfolk and Drew had active warrants for murder and were turned over to the RRPD.

At a press briefing this afternoon, RRPD Chief Lawrence Wiggins announced “that this amazing team that is here at this police department brought one of our recent violent crimes to resolution.”

Richardson was found deceased from a gunshot wound and was pronounced dead at the scene.

The Roanoke Rapids Police Department’s investigation division conducted what Wiggins described as a thorough investigation and on May 29 obtained warrants for the arrests of Woolfolk and Drew.

The teens will have their first district court appearances on June 26.

Wiggins expressed his concern over the situation. “I’m not new to this, and no one standing up here is new to this,” he said. “It’s unfortunate that we have to stand up here and we have to talk about these kinds of things about young men who are considered children but are out here making life and death decisions.”

Wiggins said, “It’s a sad state of affairs, but I’m here to reassure the community that when these things happen in Roanoke Rapids, you can rest assured we work night and day to bring it to a resolution.”

The chief said, “I want the members of the community, whether uptown or downtown, to feel like they can sit on their porch and not have to worry about catching a stray bullet. I feel like that’s the bare minimum for any community — for kids to be able to play outside and not have to run and duck for cover because we have reckless individuals walking the streets with rifles in their pants.”

Captain Harold Phillips said he was not at liberty to discuss the motive behind Richardson’s death. “There’s still a lot of things with the investigation that we’ve got to do to button it up completely. Where we’re at right now is we’ve got the evidence; we’ve got enough where we’ve got plenty of probable cause where we can charge these two individuals with the homicide.”

Phillips said the community has a big problem with juvenile crime now. “With the way the juvenile laws are set up now, we have to jump through hoops to even get enough to charge them to get secured custody. It’s not just in Roanoke Rapids — it’s the whole country.”

Wiggins could only immediately say the two juveniles were acquainted with Williams, the driver of the vehicle in the Monday evening stop by the HCSO. He said Woolfolk also has a charge of discharging a weapon into an occupied dwelling.

He credited the investigation division for its work on the case. “I’ve been really impressed with this group — the department as a whole, to be clear. My niche has been investigations for the majority of my career… They don’t complain, they get out there, they work, and they get the job done. I’m very proud of them.”

Anyone with information on the case, Wiggins said, is encouraged to contact Crimestoppers at 252-583-4444.

Williams arrest 

Harris, in the HCSO release, said Williams was arrested and charged with two counts of possession of a weapon of mass destruction, two counts of possession of a firearm by a felon, two counts of carrying a concealed weapon, driving while license revoked, expired registration plate, and expired vehicle inspection.

Williams was held without the opportunity for bond and is scheduled to appear in district court on June 26.