Outer Banks man’s murder case continued to July
MANTEO — A Kitty Hawk man’s murder case has been continued again, this time to July 8, following Dare County Superior Court proceedings March 4.
Shayne Michael Perry is charged with the Aug. 14, 2022, fatal shooting of 60-year-old William Jeffrey Bowlin of Martin’s Point.
Perry was 30 at the time of his arrest for first-degree murder, with a secured bond set for $750,000. Online court records show his charge was amended to second-degree murder on Sept. 26, 2022.
Bowlin was shot while “protecting a member of his family,” according to his obituary.
Less than a month after Bowlin’s death, Dare County District Court found Perry guilty of a Jan. 21, 2022, assault against Bowlin’s daughter, Olivia, and sentenced him to 60 days. In that incident, Perry struck Olivia Bowlin above her left eye, causing that area to swell, according to case documents.
When Perry’s name came up in court the morning of March 4, District 1 Assistant District Attorney Amber Younce asked Judge Andrew Womble of Pasquotank County — who was presiding that day — that the matter be held open.
Perry’s attorney was in another courtroom in the building for a separate matter, but “I believe he filed a motion,” Younce said, adding that they would need to “pick a date.”
Thomas Routten, chief public defender for the First Judicial District Public Defender’s Office, represents Perry in the case.
Routten filed “a motion to recuse” on Feb. 29 that was logged March 1 in eCourts, which is online court management software system that recently went live in Dare County and other northeastern North Carolina counties.
The motion did not name the person he was asking to be recused. Routten did not return calls by press time.
According to District 1 District Attorney Jeff Cruden, Routten was asking for Womble to be recused as judge when the case goes to trial, because Womble was the district attorney at the time of the incident.
The motion was not heard in court last week, but it “may be a moot point,” since his trial calendar does not show Womble returning to Dare County this year, Cruden said on Monday. His staff told him Perry’s case was now set for July 8.
Similar motions to recuse Womble have been heard in other counties—District 1 includes seven counties—and “each one so far has been denied,” Cruden said. “Womble didn’t feel like he had sufficient contact with the case to recuse himself.”
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The last time Perry’s name was on the docket, Nov. 27, plea negotiations were ongoing.
Perry remained in custody as of that date, and had not yet accepted the state’s plea offer, but “we are hopefully continuing with plea negotiations,” Routten had said when his client’s name came up in court.
Judge Jerry Tillett said on Nov. 27 that the plea offer would be held open until March 4, and then the next step in the Perry case would be going to trial.
According to online case information, Perry’s case has been continued six times by his defense, not including the most recent continuance.
