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SPARTANBURG HERALD-JOURNAL (on-line version)
http://www.GoUpstate.com/
Spartanburg, South Carolina
July 26, 1991
Rock Hill Man Wounded at House in Blacksburg
BLACKSBURG - A 29-year-old Rock Hill man suffered a single gunshot wound to the face during an altercation at a house in Blacksburg early Wednesday.
Jack Raymond Cobb, 29, of 5050 Billy Wilson Road in Rock Hill, was treated and released from Spartanburg Regional Medical Center Wednesday after being transferred from Upstate Carolina Medical Center in Gaffney.
The shooting occurred at 1:55 a.m. at the home of George Blanton, 39, of 302 S. Rutherford St. in Blacksburg, said Blacksburg police Chief Wayne Elder. Blanton said he shot Cobb in self-defense with his .32-caliber pistol after the Rock Hill man tried to stab him with a knife, Elder said.
Cobb gave a conflicting account of the incident. He told police Blanton shot him for no apparent reason and then placed a knife in his hand. Elder said the knife was taken to the Cherokee County Sheriff's Department to be checked for fingerprints. Elder expects to get the results of the fingerprinting back by the end of the week.
Blanton was charged with possession of a firearm by a felon, Elder said. Blanton was being held in the county jail Thursday.
SPARTANBURG HERALD-JOURNAL (on-line version)
http://www.GoUpstate.com/
Spartanburg, South Carolina
June 30, 1991
Blacksburg Man Choked to Death During Fight
A man was choked to death during a fight on a street corner in Blacksburg Friday, according to Blacksburg Police Chief Wayne Elder. Casery Renard Ponder, 23, of 301 North Mountain St., Blacksburg, was pronounced dead at Upstate Carolina Medical Center in Gaffney after he was involved in a fight with Michael Carl Parker, 32, of 311 Wilbur St. in Blacksburg, Elder said.
At about 6:30 p.m., the men started fighting with each other at the intersection of Academy Street and Carolina Street in Blacksburg, Elder said.
Ponder died after Parker apparently choked him, Elder said. Ponder's body has been sent to the Medical University of South Carolina for an autopsy, but Elder said there is strong reason to believe that Ponder was choked to death. "When I arrived at the scene, Parker was still there standing a short distance away talking to a group of 15 to 20 people," Elder said. "Someone pointed him out to me as being involved in a fight with the victim. "When I approached him and asked him what happened, he told me that he had a fight with Ponder and that he choked him," said Elder.
Elder said he is investigating allegations that a third party was involved in Ponder's death. Parker was arrested at the scene and is charged with murder, Elder said. A Blacksburg firefighter was giving Ponder CPR when Elder arrived at the scene. Elder said he assisted the firefighter until paramedics arrived, and they were not able to get a pulse from the victim. Elder said he has not yet confirmed what the initial disagreement was all about. Parker is being held in the Cherokee County Jail awaiting a bond hearing.