A man has pleaded guilty for the murder of his girlfriend in Onslow County in 2016.
According to District Attorney Ernie Lee, 53-year-old Terry G. Barnes pleaded guilty to second-degree murder on Tuesday.
Barnes was sentenced to 14-17 years in the North Carolina Department of Adult Correction.
The evidence showed that on September 19, 2016, the Onslow County Sheriff’s Office was dispatched to Old Maplehurst Road in reference to a shooting.
Deputy Mark Hipple responded to the residence and said he found Tina M. Meyer unresponsive on the living room floor with an apparent gunshot wound to left chest area.
Deputy Hipple found Barnes, Meyer’s boyfriend of many years, outside the residence in a Ford Explorer and found Addison Riley, Meyer’s stepfather, inside the residence.
Barnes initially told Deputy Hipple that Riley had shot Meyer.
Riley indicated that Barnes had been the shooter.
An investigation by deputies would prove that Barnes had shot and killed Meyer.
Detectives learned that the three individuals had been out drinking that night and upon returning from the Globe and Anchor Bar, Barnes went into Riley’s bedroom and grabbed a .410 shotgun and returned to the living room, officials said.
Officials said that Barnes pointed the weapon at Meyer and shot her in front of Riley.
At the time of the shooting, Riley was seated on a couch in the living room and Meyer was standing in front of him.
Barnes put the weapon back in Riley’s bedroom and left the residence to sit in his vehicle.
An autopsy revealed that Meyer had been shot in the left chest area with an entrance wound under her left armpit.
The autopsy concluded the wound was fatal and the shot occurred at a distance of three to five feet away from the victim.
Barnes was interviewed detectives and initially blamed Riley for the incident, a release states.
During the interview, Barnes eventually admitted to shooting Meyer.
Barnes indicated the three of them had been out drinking and when they returned Meyer was fussing at him.
Barnes went into the bedroom and grabbed Riley’s shotgun and came back into the living room.
Barnes pointed the gun at Meyer to prove a point to her, thinking the gun was unloaded.
Barnes cocked the weapon, pointed it at Meyer and pulled the trigger, shooting her.
Barnes demonstrated to detectives how he held the gun when he stood in front of the victim and shot her.
Barnes told detectives he had been drinking and that alcohol played a part in what occurred.
The case was tried as a first-degree murder from April 1, 2010, until April 12, 2019, in Onslow County Superior Court.
The trial ended in a mistrial with the jury deadlocked and unable to reach a unanimous verdict.
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The Onslow County Sheriff’s Office has made an arrest in a Monday night homicide.
53-year-old Terry Barnes is charged with an open count of murder in connection with a fatal shooting in the 1600 block of Old Maplehurst Road. That’s near Southwest High School. Deputies responding to the scene around 7:25 p.m. found 56-year-old Tina Meyer dead of a gunshot wound.
“They’ve lived there for three years now,” said Faye Petteway, landlord/neighbor. “Terry was always a nice man. I never had any problems with him. It’s hard for me to believe that Terry did something like this. Tina was one of the best people you’d ever meet. They had their squabbles. They’d been together a long time. I’d say they’d been boyfriend-girlfriend about 18 years now. I didn’t hear anything last night on account of the thunder. But all of a sudden I saw a bunch of blue lights outside my window. That’s all I could see was deputies cars. This is usually a quiet place. I’ve never in all my years had a murder happen at any of my properties. And I hope I never do again.”
A news release from the sheriff’s office said that records indicate that there has been one previous domestic incident at the residence between Barnes and Meyer. That incident occurred in March 2015 and was a verbal argument.
Barnes is being held in the Onslow County Sheriff’s Detention Center under no bond.
