THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, July 18, 1995 TAG: 9507180269
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: BY ANNE SAITA
DATELINE: CURRITUCK LENGTH: Medium: 74 lines
The small child was audibly scared as he struggled to find the words to match the escalating violence he was witnessing.
``My mom's . . . my dad's fighting my mom up,'' 6-year-old Eddie James Whitmore III told the 911 Emergency dispatcher on the other end of the telephone.
``Little Eddie'' couldn't remember his exact address or his neighborhood, only that his single-story house was blue. But he knew his phone number. He also knew something terrible might happen if the police didn't come soon.
When Currituck County Sheriff's Deputy John J. Riddick, now a corporal, arrived about 20 minutes later at the Powell's Point home, Eddie's mother, Wanda Clara Whitmore, was badly beaten.
His father, Eddie James Whitmore Jr., lay face down in a nearby hallway, dead after being shot once in the chest and once in the stomach with a
On Monday, Wanda Whitmore, 42, went on trial for manslaughter, accused of killing her husband during that Feb. 20 domestic dispute.
Prosecutors believe Whitmore, who admitted to police she'd consumed beer and smoked crack cocaine earlier that day, killed her husband to end his physical abuse and verbal threats.
``She formed the decision, made the decision in her mind that she was not going to put up with this anymore,'' said First Judicial Assistant District Attorney Phillip Hayes during opening statements in Currituck County Superior Court.
Defense attorney Donna Forbes of Elizabeth City told a 12-member jury that Whitmore acted in self-defense to protect herself, her son and her aging mother from an intoxicated, extremely hostile man that winter night.
According to testimony, Eddie Whitmore came home that afternoon from his job with the North Carolina Department of Transportation, then left shortly afterward. He returned some time later drunk and ready to start a fight.
With his son and 82-year-old mother-in-law nearby, Whitmore began to punch and kick his wife. At one point, Wanda Whitmore went into a back bedroom to retrieve a gun, which she put inside the waistband of her pants and concealed with a blouse, according to testimony.
Whitmore threatened to harm his son and at one point threw him against a window, witnesses said. He then turned again on his wife, who had pressed assault charges against him twice before.
Wanda Whitmore then pulled out the pistol and shot her husband twice.
``She stated that she couldn't take it anymore, and that he beat her and that he was going after her mother and going after her son,'' Riddick, the sheriff's official, told the jury.
Opening day included a replay of the 911 calls made that evening, including the one placed by the couple's son, who also testified Monday.
``What happened to your father after you called 911?'' Forbes asked the second-grader, wearing a dress shirt, slacks and a tie.
``He stopped and went to sleep.''
``Do you know what happened to make him go to sleep?'' the attorney asked.
``He got shot.''
``Do you know who shot him?''
``My mom.''
The victim's mother, Mary Whitmore of Cleveland, Ohio, was among those who supported Wanda Whitmore in court.
``Eddie, my son, was a very nice person - until he started drinking,'' she said.
Whitmore said she remained in Currituck for three months to help her daughter-in-law recuperate from injuries suffered in the February fight. She also wrote a letter of support for Wanda Whitmore that was sent to the county sheriff.
The jury, made up of two men and 10 women, is expected to begin deliberations by this afternoon.
KEYWORDS: MURDER SHOOTING DOMESTIC VIOLENCE by CNB