Greg Taylor spent 6,149 days in prison for the murder of Jacquetta Thomas in Southeast Raleigh. For 17 years he maintained his innocence, exhausting every appeal, turning down repeated chances to make up a story about a codefendant so that he could go free.

Eventually, Christine Mumma, executive director of the N.C. Center of Actual Innocence, reviewed his case and believed the state was holding an innocent man. Through Mumma's work, the North Carolina Innocence Inquiry Commission voted unanimously in 2009 that Taylor's case warranted further review, and in 2010 he was the first person to be exonerated under the process.

North Carolina is the only state with an innocence commission.

Taylor spoke to honors law and justice students at Broughton High School in Raleigh today. Here are my notes. They are not verbatim.

This is a post by N&O restaurant critic Greg Cox:

The recent opening of La Cacerola (2016 Guess Road; 919-286-3303) is a double boon for the local dining scene.

First, it brings a measure of closure to the tragic story of Kabab & Curry House, the previous restaurant at this address, whose owner was murdered in December.

Second, the Honduran fare that is La Cacerola's specialty has historically been an underrepresented cuisine in the Triangle. Among the dishes you'd have been hard-pressed to find until now are grilled Honduran chorizo, steak in onion sauce, and yuca (fried or steamed) with chicharrones and their traditional accompaniments, pickled vegetables and a distinctive salsa called chismol.

You can order à la carte or hit the compact buffet. A lunch special offers your choice of meat and three sides from the buffet for a bargain $6.50.

On Sunday mornings, options expand to include Honduran breakfast items such as the Tipico La Cacerola: beans, sweet plantains, eggs, sour cream and your choice of pork, beef or chorizo.

La Cacerola is open Monday-Saturday from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. and Sunday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Send restaurant news to Greg at ggcox@bellsouth.net. Be sure to tune in to Greg's radio show at 11 a.m. Saturdays on WPTF.

Police have arrested two men in the killing of a 13-year-old Durham girl just over one year ago.

Levette Lipscomb (right), 26, of North Briggs Avenue and Brandon Townsend (left), 19, of North Briggs Avenue are charged with murder in the death of Shakanah China, police announced Friday morning.

Both arrests were made this morning. Lipscomb and Townsend are being held in the Durham County Jail without bond.

“We will not be able to release any detailed information,” said Acting Deputy Police Chief Larry Smith, who made the announcement. “It's still an ongoing case.”

Smith did say that that a new lead led to the arrests, and that China was an “unintended victim” when she was shot to death May 10, 2011, a few days after her 13th birthday.

China was playing with her younger sister and brother and texting on her new cell phone when she was shot. Family members and friends have said it was a gang looking for payback that shot into a group of people standing in the apartment driveway in eastern Durham.
 

Well, this came from out of nowhere: Raleigh native Clay Aiken, a singer and Broadway actor who got his start on "American Idol," got a random name-check in yesterday's Kathy Taft murder trial. 

Jason K. Williford, 32, is on trial for raping and murdering Taft in 2010, but apparently, Williford also had a sort of run-in with Aiken at some point in his past (both Aiken and Williford attended Leesville Road High School at about the same time in Raleigh, but it's unclear when the following incident took place or if the two even knew each other).

According to the story by The N&O's Josh Shaffer, Williford's lawyer chronicled the man's lifelong pattern of drug abuse and bizarre behavior:

A new true crime series debuting on the Investigation Discovery channel tonight puts the spotlight on a salacious story of murder and sex in Fayetteville.

"Scorned: Love Kills" (10 p.m., Investigation Discovery) opens with the story of the 2002 murder of U.S. Army Special Forces Maj. David Shannon. David and his wife Joan Shannon (left) were involved in the "swinging" lifestyle in Fayetteville (members of the "Fayetteville Gang Bangers," no less) but things got out of hand when Joan fell in love with one of her conquests and wanted out of her marriage. And since stupid people think murder is easier and cheaper than divorce, she started planning his death.

The grossest thing about this case is that Joan Shannon involves one of her teenage daughters in her plot.

A true crime program airing tonight on Investigation Discovery will tell the story of the 2001 death of Kathleen Peterson from the perspective of Kathleen's daughter, Caitlin Atwater.

Kathleen Peterson's husband Michael Peterson (left) was convicted in 2003 of murdering her in their Durham home.

Peterson is currently seeking a new trial. A hearing on that is scheduled for next month.

"The Devil You Know," airing at 10 p.m., features interviews with Atwater, as well as Art Holland of the Durham Police Department, and Fred Atwater, Kathleen's first husband.

The episode airing tonight is called "Stairway to Hell." (The murder trial was the subject of a 2004 documentary by Jean-Xavier de Lestrade called "The Staircase.")

"The Devil You Know" describes itself as a series that "delves into the secret lives of men and women who masquerade as law-abiding citizens but, behind the charade, are hiding deadly intentions from their loved ones." The shows offers first-hand accounts from friends and family members to tell the stories.

Investigation Discovery airs on 251 and 1251 on Time Warner Cable. On DirecTV you'll find it on 285 and 1285; AT&T U-Verse has it on 260 and 1260; Dish Network has it on 192.

Police have identified the victim of a Wednesday homicide as Crystal Gigliotti, 21, of 4524 Newby Drive, Apt. E-6.

Officers responding to a call found Gigliotti dead inside her apartment about 2:30 a.m. No charges have been filed or suspects identified, but according to police spokeswoman Kammie Michael the killing is not thought to have been a random act.

Anyone with information is asked to call Investigator West at 560-4440 ext. 29341 or CrimeStoppers at 683-1200.

DURHAM Police are looking for Terry Percell Green, 22, of 1835 Cheek Road, who is charged with murder in a March 19 shooting on the Durham Freeway.

Demario Eugene Carr, 26, of Davinci Street died as a result of a gunshot wound in his head received when he was riding in a northbound vehicle near Roxboro Street.

According to police, Green is known to frequent the 3000 block of Weaver Street and North Buchanan Boulevard/Green Street.

Anyone with information on Green’s whereabouts is asked to call Investigator Pate at 560-4440, ext. 29332 or CrimeStoppers at 683-1200.

A Facebook page has erupted into expletives and insults after a Knightdale High School student penned to free “Mariah Wisdom,” one of the suspects in the murder of another student.

Dominique Royster wrote the words on her Facebook page on March 23 and three days later, she was “jumped” in the lunch room at Knightdale High School by several students, according to her father, Roger Royster.

Mariah Wisdom, 17, her brother Rapper Rajal Amed “Real Dynamite” Wisdom, Jr., 22, and their father Rajal Amed Wisdom Sr., 45, have been charged with the first degree murder of

Nigel Ellison, 18, a popular Knightdale High School student. Ellison was fatally shot on March 21 in Raleigh.

They also were charged with the attempted murder of Kalife I. Johnson.

Dominique Royster said she was friends with Rajal Amed Wisdom Jr. and Mariah Wisdom. She said a member of the school staff who deals with disciplinary problems was assigned to shadow her as she went through the day on Friday, her first day back at school since the murder.

Her father said she had received death threats on her cell phone and that he kept her out of school until emotions cooled. He said he talked to school administrators about the situation and that they assured him that they would take appropriate action.
Royster said she didn’t know where the member of the staff was when she was attacked.

A school staff member called her mother Friday and told her that her daughter had been suspended for three days because of the fight, Royster said.

When asked about writing “free Mariah” on the Facebook page, she ended a cell phone call.

Read more in the Wednesday's Eastern Wake News.