03/28/2024
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A Bladenboro man charged in the shooting death of a Tar Heel woman in February was given a $500,000 secured bond by Judge Douglas B. Sasser on Monday during a hearing in Bladen County Superior Court.

Kelly Dwayne Hamilton, 44, has been charged with first-degree murder in the death of 44-year-old Crystal Lynn McLamb on Feb. 11. The incident took place in the early morning hours at Hamilton’s mobile home on Ruby Kidds Road, off Singletary Mill Pond Road, near Bladenboro, according to records.

Investigators say that Hamilton called the 911 center at 3:02 a.m. Feb. 11 to report that McLamb had accidentally shot herself when she moved a loaded weapon that was lying on the coffee table as the two were watching a movie.

According to investigators, two shots were fired from the weapon that had been on the table; one went into the table and the other struck McLamb. Assistant District Attorney Quintin McGee said during Monday’s bond hearing that a shell casing was found under Hamilton’s bed.

“This is a sad, sad situation,” Butch Pope, Hamilton’s lawyer, told the court Monday. “These are nice folks. Crystal McLamb was a friend of Mr. Hamilton’s for years and years.”

Pope told the court that Hamilton and McLamb went out during the day on Feb. 10 and did some target shooting, then visited some friends. Later, each went to their home.

Before McLamb returned to Hamilton’s house that night, Hamilton thought he heard a noise outside and went to check because there had been some break-ins recently in the area, Pope said. He took his Taurus pistol with him. Hamilton didn’t find anything outside and went back into the house, placing the loaded gun on top of a coffee table, Pope said.

McLamb came over later that evening to watch a movie, Pope said. As they were talking, Pope said, McLamb picked up the gun from the coffee table, and the gun went off.

“There was no sign of any struggle, no evidence of any disagreement,” Pope said. “Just a terrible, terrible accident.

“(Hamilton) is no threat to the community. He’s certainly not going anywhere. He still gets emotional when he talks about Crystal,” Pope said.

The state maintains, based on the evidence found at the scene, that a second shot was fired.

“The fact that there was a second shell, along with some of the physical evidence discovered, indicates there was a second shot,” McGee said. “It is true that Mr. Hamilton called 911 and indicated an accident had occured. The evidence on the scene doesn’t jibe with the story that Mr. Hamilton gave law enforcement.”

The state asked for a $1 million bond. Pope asked for a $50,000 bond.

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