New details emerge in fatal Burke Co. home invasion

BURKE COUNTY, N.C. — New details are emerging in a home invasion robbery where a father and son were shot inside their home in Burke County.

A week after that shooting, the father died in the hospital turning the case into a murder investigation.

Janie Presnell asked the 911 dispatcher to get help to her home west of Morganton. Minutes earlier, someone forced their way in and shot both her son and her husband.

"I just saw them go out the front door and my son hollered 'Momma, don't go outside,'" she said on the phone.

During the five-minute call, Presnell interrupted the 911 operator trying to get the name of the shooter from her husband who had life-threatening injuries after being shot near the mouth.

Deputies said they are looking into names given during the call. Also Channel 9 learned while they don't have a motive yet, they know in the days leading up to the shooting the family says medication for the father was stolen right out of their mailbox.

"We've continued to work it from day one. We've been able to eliminate several people whose name came up and we continue to work it and develop leads," said Burke County Sheriff Steve Whisenant.

The Sheriff's Office is offering a $1,000 reward in the case through their Crimestoppers program.

For those who live and work in this rural part of the county and know the family, there are more questions than answers tonight into what happened here.

"That's what puzzles us. Why? We don't know," said Frank Perkins with Perkins Store.

Read previous coverage on this story by clicking here.

WSOC