Local

Attorney argues client may not have been in town during time of murder

ROWAN COUNTY, N.C. — There are questions about whether the right man is behind bars for murder in Rowan County.

Investigators usually use surveillance camera video to show a suspect at the scene of a crime, but in this case, there is the possibility video footage could clear the suspect.

Investigators said a witness put Witt Alexander Jr. at the scene of the crime.

[PAST COVERAGE: Man accused of killing Rowan County woman during home invasion]

However, a search of camera footage around the EpiCentre suggests that he may have been in Charlotte at the time.

Alexander has been in the Rowan County Jail since 2018 and was charged with the murder of a pregnant woman and her unborn child.

Deputies said that Mirah Turner was trying to prevent a home invasion when she was shot through the door of her home on Long Street in Salisbury.

Alexander was arrested several hours later after a witness pointed him out, according to court documents.

"I just know he didn't do,” Alexander’s girlfriend, Tamesha Geter, said. “That's all I can say."

Photographic evidence was presented Monday in a Rowan County courtroom placing Alexander in Charlotte at the time of the murder.

"I don't see how he could have killed somebody, made it here and back there in 30 minutes,” Alexander’s aunt, Yolanda Phillips, said. “There is no way."

Last year, a photographic lineup was presented to the witness who identified Alexander as the suspect who fired the shots that killed Turner.

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Alexander’s attorney, Doug Smith, filed a court document last spring which raises the question of whether his client was in Charlotte at that time.

Smith requested security camera video from the EpiCentre, the Transit Center and the Ritz Carlton Hotel.

Deputies put the time of the murder around 2 a.m. on June 24.

Video from one camera was subpoenaed between:

  • 2 a.m. and 3:30 a.m.
  • 1:30 a.m. and 3:30 a.m.
  • 2:30 a.m. and 4:30 a.m.
  • 1 a.m. and 3:30 a.m.

Cameras tracked the whereabouts of Alexander and friend Kyheem Martinez who were going to Charlotte to hang out.

One of the first photos shows them pulling up in a silver Malibu at 12:31 a.m. at the Circle K on Innes Street in Salisbury and entering the store.

Deputies said the murder occurred on June 24, 2018, shortly after 2 a.m. The 911 call came in at 2:14 a.m.

A Charlotte traffic cam catches the Malibu on Fourth and Brevard streets at 2:39 a.m. It was picked up again at 2:41 a.m. on EpiCentre security video at 2:54 a.m. Both men are seen on CMPD real-time crime center cameras walking around the EpiCentre.

The drive time is 48 minutes from Salisbury to the EpiCentre, according to the defense team.

"My son is constantly asking about his dad, where is his dad when is his dad coming to get him," Geter said.

Alexander's next court date is in December. He was in jail under no bond for nearly a year. A judge gave him a $100,000 secured bond.