Death penalty sought in NC killing of 2

WINSTON-SALEM — Prosecutors say they will seek the death penalty against a man and a woman charged with killing a North Carolina man and the Meals on Wheels volunteer delivering him lunch.

The Winston-Salem Journal reports that prosecutor Jim O’Neill said in brief hearings this week that the death penalty is justified because the suspects were committing an armed robbery.

Authorities say Ashley Kristine Smith and her boyfriend Timothy Hartford Jr. were robbing 64-year-old Bob Denning in his home last April when 77-year-old volunteer Anne Magness came to the house to deliver lunch.

Denning and Magness were shot and killed, while Magness’ husband was wounded and survived.

Only four of the 162 prisoners on North Carolina’s death row are women.

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