2 indicted in assault on UNC athletes

2 others charged in murder cases

HILLSBOROUGH -- An Orange County grand jury handed up indictments Monday against a man and woman charged in the alleged sexual assault of a UNC-Chapel Hill football player.

In other cases, jurors indicted two men charged with murder.

The grand jury indicted Michael Troy Lewis on two counts each of first-degree kidnapping, attempted larceny and assault on an officer, and one count each of robbery with a dangerous weapon, resisting a public officer and conspiracy to kidnap, rob and sexually batter the football player.

Police say Lewis robbed and terrorized UNC-CH lineman Lowell Dyer, taking a wallet with $100 cash and trying to steal a TV, an Xbox video-game system and an iPod, together worth about $3,000. They also say Lewis bit a police officer and pushed him down a flight of stairs.

The jury indicted Monique Taylor on charges of first-degree kidnapping, felony conspiracy, sexual battery and resisting a public officer.

One football player testified last month that Taylor removed his shirt, pushed him onto a bed, sat on him and tried to tie his hands. When he resisted, he said, a naked Lewis held a kitchen knife to his throat. He said one or both of them removed his pants and Taylor fondled him.

Assistant District Attorney Morgan Whitney did not seek an indictment against T'Nikia Washington, the third person initially charged in the case. She was accused of sexual battery against a third player.

Last month, a judge found no probable cause to hold Washington, but Whitney had said he might still seek an indictment against her.

The murder cases

The grand jury also indicted Randall Allan Standifer on charges of first-degree murder, robbery with a dangerous weapon, felony breaking and entering, first-degree kidnapping and assault on a female.

Orange County sheriff's deputies say Standifer shot Jeffrey Lee Walton after kicking in the door to Walton's home on Christmas Day. They also say he stole Walton's wallet, which had $700 in it, and took former girlfriend Diana Koutsis hostage "for the purpose of facilitating" his escape.

The jury found evidence that Standifer had struck Koutsis in the mouth with the barrel of the same 20-gauge shotgun allegedly used to shoot Walton.

The grand jury also indicted Willie James Mayo Jr. on charges of first-degree murder and accessory after the fact to murder. Mayo is one of three people charged in the July 29, 2006, death of Kedrain Swann. Swann, 26, was shot and run over by a car outside the now-closed Avalon night club at 325 W. Rosemary St.