John Palmer, a 28-year-old Black man, was killed in Kinston, North Carolina, in what was described as a needless drive-by shooting on July 25, 2022. Mr. Palmer was a former Cadet Sergeant in the Kinston Department of Public Safety Explorer Post, where he was well known and liked by members of both the fire and police divisions. He was remembered as one of the nicest kids in the program.
In the early morning hours of that day, a series of related shootings unfolded across the city.
The first occurred around 4:20 a.m. near the intersection of Adkin Street and East Bright Street, where multiple rounds were fired into a vehicle. The driver, a 71-year-old woman, was not harmed. Twenty minutes later, at approximately 4:40 a.m., Kinston Police officers were called to the 100 block of Airport Road, where they found John Palmer deceased from a gunshot wound. About an hour later, at 5:45 a.m., officers discovered the body of a 17-year-old, Isaiah Taylor, who had been shot multiple times on Hyman Avenue.
The Kinston Police Department began an investigation, quickly determining that the three incidents were connected. With assistance from the NC State Bureau of Investigation and the Greenville Police Department, investigators arrested Ervin Lee Waters Jr. in Greenville. Police also arrested two other men, Samuel Tiveon Roberts and Calvin Suggs, in connection with the shootings.
Prosecutors charged Ervin Waters Jr. with the murder of John Palmer, the first-degree murder of Isaiah Taylor, and the attempted first-degree murder of the 71-year-old woman. He was held in the Lenoir County Jail with no bond. Samuel Roberts and Calvin Suggs were both charged with aiding and abetting murder and aiding and abetting attempted murder for their alleged roles in the deaths of Taylor and the shooting on Adkin Street. Suggs was given a $2 million bond. After the arrests, police announced that they believed those directly responsible for the crimes had been apprehended.
The Kinston Police Department stated it would work closely with the Lenoir County District Attorney’s Office and the United States Attorney’s Office to prosecute those involved. In a show of support for a former member, the Kinston Department of Fire and Rescue honored Mr. Palmer’s memory by raising money to provide Christmas gifts and a gift card for his family. As of December 2022, the case against the three men was proceeding through the justice system.
