LaGrange man sought in shooting at area cockfight
By Dennis Hill
Published in News on February 8, 2006 1:53 PM
From staff reports
WILSON -- Wilson County law enforcement officers are searching for a LaGrange man wanted for the shooting death of a man at a cockfight Sunday.
Rosendo Torres Raygoza, 27, of Greenville, died from wounds he received from a shotgun blast.
Authorities are searching for Alejandro Rico Pineda, who was last seen driving a silver and brown extended cab four-wheel drive Dodge Ram pickup. Wilson Sheriff's Maj. John Farmer said officers were called Sunday about 3:30 to the scene and discovered about 40 to 50 birds being used for fighting in a makeshift ring in a secluded, wooded area.
The shooting happened on Boykin Road, between Rock Ridge and Sims in western Wilson County.
James Ward Flowers, 56, was charged with permitting an illegal cockfight in his property and released under $2,000 bond. Thirty-two states, including North Carolina, prohibit cockfighting. It is a felony.
Authorities did not say what would happen to the confiscated chickens, some of which had been injured in the fighting.
Farmer said investigators had not determined a reason for the shooting and that there had been no apparent confrontation between the two men at the time.
Raygoz was taken by helicopter to Pitt Memorial Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.