Pittman faces murder charges

The man accused of strangling a Rocky Mount woman and dumping her body in the woods made his first court appearance on those charges Wednesday.

Antwan Maurice Pittman, 31, showed no emotion and said little during the brief hearing at the Edgecombe County courthouse. Pittman faces one count of first-degree murder in the death of 28-year-old Taraha Shenice Nicholson.

Authorities said they will continue investigating to determine if Pittman had anything to do with the deaths of four other women killed in similar circumstances since 2005.

The victim’s mother, Diana Nicholson, wiped tears from her eyes as bailiffs escorted the shackled suspect into the courtroom.

“When I saw him, I just had so many questions,” Nicholson said. “Why? Why would he kill my baby?”

District Court Judge Pell Cooper granted Pittman a probable cause hearing for Sept. 16 and appointed two attorneys – Tommy Moore and Tom Sallenger – to defend him. District Attorney Robert Evans represented the state during the hearing.

Taraha Nicholson’s body was discovered March 7 in the woods off Marriott Road in rural Edgecombe County, three weeks after her mother reported her missing. Nicholson was only partially clothed, authorities said, and she had been choked to death, according to the autopsy.

Nicholson was the fourth victim discovered along the same rural stretch in Western Edgecombe County since 2005. Police have yet to identify a sixth potential victim found dead in February inside city limits.

Although members of a task force investigation have refrained from sharing details of the case, some outside profilers have in recent weeks said they are certain the crimes are the work of a serial killer.

All the known victims were black women from low-income families in East Rocky Mount. Most were known to have peddled sex to feed drug habits, according to friends and family.

Those similarities lead some family members to believe Pittman, a registered sex offender, might be responsible for the other murders as well.

Pittman, known to have lived within a few miles of all the victims at different times since the early ’90s, was arrested on Aug. 12 for driving with a revoked license and failure to register his address as a sex offender. He was in Nash County jail on those charges this week when police charged him with Nicholson’s murder.

Pittman was transferred Wednesday to Central Prison in Raleigh for his protection, jail officials said. He’s being held with no bond.

Authorities would not say what led to Pittman’s arrest, and it remains unclear if police believe Pittman might be a suspect in the other murders.

Pittman’s mother, Gloria Pittman, dismissed the possibility, saying Wednesday her son is “incapable of killing someone.”

She said she believes authorities are pinning the murder on her son to relieve media pressure surrounding the case.

Meanwhile, relatives of the other victims said they see hope in Pittman’s arrest.

“We pray to God, if this is the guy, they draw connections between him and the other murders,” said Eunetta Whitaker, sister-in-law to the most recent victim, Jarneice Hargrove. “We miss Jarneice so much – she made us laugh – and so we’re just hoping this leads to justice.”

Anthony Barnes, a Raleigh-based bail bondsman, said he freed Pittman from Nash County jail in 2007 after he was accused of soliciting prostitutes in Rocky Mount, a charge that was dropped after the arresting officer left the department.

Pittman was convicted in 1994 of taking indecent sexual liberties with a 2-year-old, according to criminal records. He also had been convicted of assault, larceny, trespassing and resisting police in recent years.

Bodies of all the victims – Nicholson, 28, Hargrove, 31, Ernestine Battle, 50, Jackie Nikelia Thorpe, 35, and Melody Wiggins, 29 – were found between 2005 and early this year along the same rural stretch outside the city.

Police are searching for three other missing women – Yolanda “Snap” Lancaster, 37, Joyce Renee Durham, 46, and Christine Boone, 43 – in connection with the investigation.

Anyone with information about this case is asked to contact the Rocky Mount Police Department at 252-972-1411.