DANBURY -- A Stokes County man accused of killing his girlfriend appeared in court yesterday on charges of first-degree murder and other offenses, authorities said.
Joshua Allen Bolen, 25, of Walnut Cove also is charged with second-degree arson and misdemeanor burning property, authorities said. Bolen is accused of killing Ashley Denise Ward, 24, of Mount Airy and burning his mobile home on Stewart Road just north of Walnut Cove.
Bolen was returned to Danbury Wednesday from Richmond, Va., where he was arrested on June 7.
Ward, whose body was pulled from a pond next to Belews Lake in northeastern Forsyth County on June 2, died of head injuries. Bolen and Ward have a 15-month-old son who is living with Ward's mother in Mount Airy.
Bolen told a deputy that he had last seen Ward alive on May 30 when she got out of his vehicle on U.S. 52, about 4 miles from King. Judy Ward Padilla, Ward's mother, reported her daughter missing that same day.
The next day, a fire gutted the mobile home in Walnut Cove where Bolen lived. Bolen was being held in the Stokes County Jail last night with no bond allowed.
Two attorneys will be appointed for him, Stokes Sheriff Mike Joyce said.
In a separate hearing yesterday, a judge also placed Bolen's three children in the custody of social services, which put them in the immediate custody of their mother, Joyce said. Bolen and Ward's 15-month-old son was left in Padilla's custody, he said.
Body found in house that was scene of shootout
SHELBY -- Authorities said they found a burned body in a house after killing a suspect inside who had shot at officers checking on reports of a domestic disturbance.
One officer was shot in the hand Thursday night while chasing Jermaine Tahim Farmer, 30, Shelby police said.
Farmer got back to the home, and a small fire started before he fired on officers again, authorities said. Police fired back, killing the suspect.
Investigators then found in the house the partially burned body of a woman. They are awaiting autopsy results.
Five officers involved in the incident have been placed on administrative leave.
Shelby is about 45 miles west of Charlotte.
Teacher charged in having sex with student
CHARLOTTE -- A band teacher at a South Carolina middle school has been arrested and accused of having sex with a student.
Several media outlets reported that Richard Priode, 44, of Charlotte was charged Thursday with indecent liberties with a student.
Priode is the band director at Sullivan Middle School in Rock Hill, S.C. The charges stem from his work at South Mecklenburg High School in Charlotte. Priode left South Mecklenburg last June.
The school district cooperated with police as soon as it learned of the allegations, said Cynthia Robbins, a spokeswoman for the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools.
Elaine Baker, a spokeswoman for the Rock Hill schools, said she couldn't talk about the case because the district is awaiting official notification of the charge.
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