First of two teens charged in Fourth of July murder appears in court; second teen arrested

A Wake County judge told the 16-year-old charged in an Independence Day slaying in downtown Raleigh that he could spend the rest of his life in prison if he is convicted of first-degree murder as police arrested a second teen in the shooting incident.

During a Thursday hearing, District Court Judge Ned Mangum nearly told Kenneth Edward Watts Jr. that he could face the death penalty for the shooting that killed an 18-year-old man and injured three others. But the judge halted in mid-sentence after realizing that the accused teen’s age barred him from being put to death.

It was Watts’ first court appearance after his arrest Wednesday afternoon on Coleman Street, a neighborhood just east of downtown. The site is not far from where four people were shot Tuesday night after the city’s annual Fourth of July fireworks display.

Raleigh police said Thursday evening they also had arrested Curtis Hart Rainey, 17, and charged him with murder. No other information about Rainey was immediately available.

One of the four shooting victims – Raheem Khary Lawrence McAllister, 18, of 8217 Bellingham Circle – was taken to WakeMed, where he later died. The other three – two men ages 19 and 20 and a 35-year-old woman – were transported to WakeMed, where they were all treated for their injuries and released, police reported.

Watts was led into the courtroom Thursday in a bright-green jail jumpsuit. Those are issued to inmates who are under safekeeping because they may harm themselves or others.

Along with first-degree murder, Watts is charged with two counts of assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill inflicting serious injury and misdemeanor assault with a deadly weapon.

Police have not disclosed a motive for the shootings, but Diane Powell, founder and director of Justice NC, a nonprofit that mentors young people in jail, said she thinks the violence is related to the Bloods and Crips gangs.

Watts had pending charges for trespassing and misdemeanor possession of marijuana, according to state records.

It was about 10:42 p.m. Tuesday – after Fourth of July fireworks celebrations downtown – when emergency dispatchers alerted police about reports of a shooting near the intersection of South Wilmington and East South streets. The intersection is between the Duke Energy Center for the Performing Arts, the Shaw University campus and a McDonald’s on the southern end of downtown.

“Somebody just got shot,” a woman who called 911 told the dispatcher. “We’re at McDonald’s. The one near Fayetteville Street.”

This story was originally published July 6, 2017 at 4:49 PM with the headline "First of two teens charged in Fourth of July murder appears in court; second teen arrested."