A second person has been linked by police detectives to a fatal stabbing in East Smithfield.
Dontrell Khali McDonald, 24, of Smithfield has been charged with the murder of Adolphus Ramon Bryant of Princeton. Smithfield Police responded to the rear of a home in the 800 block of Second Avenue around 2:15pm on September 21st, 2015 for a report of gunshots. When they arrived they located Bryant. He had not been shot but he had been stabbed to death.
McDonald was serving time in federal prison in West Virginia on an unrelated charge when he was returned to Johnston County and formally charged this week. McDonald had been released from the NC Department of Corrections on March 29, 2015 after serving a 90 day sentence for violating probation for a conviction of possession of a firearm by a felon. McDonald completed his post-release supervision on August 21, 2015 exactly one month before Bryant was killed on September 21, 2015.
Police Captain R. Sheppard said a second person, Tina Louise Byrd of Smithfield was charged in October 2015 for her involvement in Bryant’s death. However, Byrd was never tried on her charges. She was on pre-trial release when she died.
Captain Sheppard said no additional charges are expected in the murder investigation at this time. A motive in the fatal stabbing was never released by police.
