Two Sanford men sentenced for shooting that left man permanently injured

Caleb M. Soptelean, The Sanford Herald, N.C.
·2 min read

Apr. 6—Two Sanford men were sentenced on April 4 to charges stemming from a shooting that left a man permanently injured.

Robert Bernard Fox III, 22, and Jonel Shamar Headen Jr., 21, made pleas that were signed by Lee County Superior Court Judge C. Winston Gilchrist.

Fox made an Alford plea to conspiracy to commit assault with a deadly weapon, a felony. In an Alford plea, the defendant does not admit guilt but acknowledges that the prosecution has enough evidence for a conviction. The plea agreement calls for a sentence ranging from 19 to 32 months in prison. According to a court document that listed aggravating factors, Fox acknowledged that the victim suffered a permanent injury from the shooting.

Fox has a prior conviction for common law robbery, a court document states. Some other charges were dismissed, including possession of a controlled substance in jail.

He has been held on a $50,000 bond.

According to a statement from Detective M. Bullock, Fox discharged a firearm into a side wall at 419 Maple Ave. in Sanford on April 18, 2022.

Headen, 21, signed a guilty plea that calls for a sentence from five to eight years in prison. He pleaded guilty to assault with a deadly weapon and discharging a weapon into an occupied property, both felonies.

In Headen's plea, 12 other charges would be dismissed, including possession of stolen firearm, possession of cocaine and possession of heroin, all felonies. He has a prior conviction from August 2021 for possession of marijuana.

Headen was held on a $75,000 bond.

Both men were given credit for 716 days in jail. Headen was ordered to pay $2,975 for his attorney's fees.

The cases were prosecuted by Byron Beasley.

According to an earlier report in the Sanford Herald, the shooting left a 20-year-old man, Alex Trujillo, in stable condition at UNC Chapel Hill Hospital.

Sanford police said officers were notified of the shooting at 9:26 p.m. and arrived on the scene at Maple Avenue to find Trujillo with a gunshot wound to the neck.