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Two days after being arrested for robbery and murder, two members of an alleged crime ring have been charged with other violent crimes – this time in Iredell County.
If true, the allegations extend the reach of some of the group's central figures, who are charged with robbing a Gaston family and with killing a man in southwest Mecklenburg.
Latasha Nicole Hope and Perry Joines are both in Mecklenburg jail, charged with murder and robbery for crimes with similar circumstances – breaking into the homes of strangers, tying them up and stealing their belongings.
Police say one robbery occurred in McAdenville last week, and that a robbery attempt resulted in the shooting death of Louis Navarre in southwest Charlotte on Jan. 2.
On Friday, officers in Iredell County charged the pair with other crimes – a home invasion and robbery off Landis Highway in which a woman was tied up and held at gunpoint.
An Iredell detective investigating that case was contacted by Charlotte-Mecklenburg police and interviewed Hope in jail, where police say she admitted that she and two others had committed the Landis Highway robbery. They were charged with first-degree burglary and robbery with a dangerous weapon for that crime, police say.
The number of victims may continue to grow. Police in Gaston and Mecklenburg say they are trying to see if members of the ring could be responsible for other open cases.
Joines and Hope have emerged as central figures during the investigation. Police say Hope knocked on the McAdenville family's front door last week and asked to use the phone. As the family was handing her a phone, two men forced themselves into the house. Then the trio tied the family up and made off with $10,000 worth of belongings.
Three weeks before that, police say, Navarre was fatally shot in his house near Wilkinson Boulevard and Interstate 485 during a robbery. Officers say they don't believe he knew the people who broke into his house. Police haven't said what happened inside Navarre's house on McGarry Trail, but neighbors heard at least one gunshot before seeing Navarre stumble out of his house, gushing blood and holding his head. He died in a neighbor's driveway.
On Wednesday, police stormed the northern Charlotte motel where Hope and Joines were staying and took them into custody. Since then, officers have tried to retrace the pair's steps.
Anyone with information should call Crime Stoppers at 704-334-1600.
