FIRST ON 3: Second man pleads guilty to 2010 double murder

COLUMBUS COUNTY, NC (WWAY) — A second man has pleaded guilty to murder just as his trial for the deaths of two men in 2010 was about to begin.

Dryan Vereen, 26, pleaded guilty to two counts of second-degree murder this afternoon in Columbus County Superior Court, according to his attorney. A judge sentenced him to between 16 years and more than 20 years in prison.

A trial was set to begin for Vereen for his involvement in the murders of Lee Otis Vereen and his half-brother Jerome Williams in 2010.

Vereen and another man, Antwan Omar Wright, were both initially charged with capital murder. According to the district attorney’s office, Ronald Bellamy, Vereen and Wright were trying to rob Lee Otis Vereen of drugs in money near Tabor City.

He Bellamy pleaded guilty to two counts of second degree murder in 2013. He was sentenced to 16-20 years in prison.