FORSYTH COUNTY, N.C. — A jury found a Forsyth County man guilty in a 2016 murder case Thursday.
The Forsyth County district attorney said Harry Lee Hunter Jr. was sentenced to life in prison without parole, followed by a consecutive term of 19 months minimum to 32 months maximum after being convicted of first-degree murder.
Investigators said on April 30, 2016, around 8 a.m., Winston-Salem police were called to the EMS station at 911 E.Fifth St. about a shooting. When they arrived, 27-year-old Josh Brown was on the way to the hospital after he was shot.
Police said Brown later died at Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist.
An autopsy revealed that Brown had been shot twice: once in the back, damaging his lungs and ribs, and once under his left arm fatally damaging his heart and lungs and ending his life.
An investigation showed that Brown was at a house party on the 800th block of Cameron Avenue playing cards with Hunter Jr. Detectives said when they were both leaving, witnesses said Hunter pulled out a gun and pointed it at Brown's head.
Investigators said the owner of the home tried to intervene to calm the situation down.
Police said the owner then agreed to take the remaining people at the party home. They pulled their minivan up to the road, and as Brown was getting ready to get in the van, Hunter Jr. started shooting. Brown and another person were hit getting into the van. Bullets were later found embedded in the driver’s seat where the homeowner had been seated as well as in the front passenger door. Casings discharged from the murder weapon were found on the street as well as in the van.
All firearm evidence was tested and found to have come from the same gun, according to investigators. After the shooting, the Hunter Jr. ran away in between houses to escape responsibility.
Weeks later, Hunter was found by the United States Marshal Service in Florida.
DA Jim O’Neill said, “These senseless crimes will not go unpunished. No matter how long it takes I will never give up on justice for victims of violent crime in our community. We all have a right to be safe and live without fear.
