Family member of Catawba County murder victim scared to leave house

CATAWBA COUNTY, N.C. — There was an emotional testimony Wednesday from a family member of three people found murdered inside a home in Conover.

A jury already convicted Everette Hewitt with three counts of first-degree murder.

Eyewitness News reporter Dave Faherty was in the courtroom as attorneys argued over whether he should be sentenced to death.

The jury heard from family members on both sides of the case about the impact the murders have had on loved ones and the suspect's rough childhood in South Carolina.

Chris Canipe fought back tears as she described the moment she learned her sister, Connie Miller, had been shot, along with two other people, inside the home in 2011.

"They said 'Your sister has been shot,'” Canipe said. “I didn't believe them so I left and then 10 minutes later I got a call and it was her. She had been shot in the head."

Canipe explained how her weight dropped to 89 pounds in the months after the murders and how she's had difficulty even going outside since her sister's death.

"I've gotten to where I keep myself at home,” Canipe said. “I work, sleep and eat and go back home. I'm scared to go out because I'm scared because I don't know what will happen."

A witness said Hewitt admitted to shooting the three people to get money. Police later found blood evidence from one of the victims on his clothes.

His aunt and sister told the jury Wednesday Hewitt had a difficult childhood.

When he was young, he often stuttered and his family had no money. 
 
His mother was also described as an alcoholic who had little time for her children.
 
"I can remember many times we would get word that she was drunk," the aunt, Diane Gooden, said. "We'd have to go get her and we might find her in a ditch, drunk."

Cox Media Group