Shooting suspect due in court Monday

McDonald charged with two counts attempted murder
in February shooting of two women

By Kevin Spradlin
PeeDeePost.com

ROCKINGHAM — He argued. He fired off at least 13 rounds of a .22-caliber rifle, hitting two women multiple times.

Then he fled.

Taquan T. McDonald

Taquan T. McDonald

That’s the case authorities are making against 21-year-old Richmond County man Taquan Taheem McDonald, accused of shooting Teresa Best, 31, and Melissa Taylor, 35, at the Crown Pointe apartment complex on Cauthen Drive. Best and Taylor both have Rockingham addresses.

McDonald has been charged with two felony counts of assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill and inflict serious injury, one felony count of discharging a barreled weapon or firearm into an occupied property and one felony count of possession of a firearm by a felon.

McDonald’s next court appearance is scheduled for 10 a.m. Monday in Richmond County Superior Court. Public defender R. Thomas Nichols Jr., of Rockingham, said Friday he doesn’t expect any movement on the case as he and attorneys from the Richmond County District Attorney’s Office discuss a number of issues, including potential plea agreements.

Nichols told The Pee Dee Post that cases such as this can take a long time to play out.

On Feb. 21, state, county and Rockingham law enforcement officers responded to a brick-and-vinyl-sided two story apartment at 1315 Cauthen Drive, located off Long Drive south of Highway Business 74, for reports of multiple gunshots. The call to 911 was reported at 4:38 p.m. McDonald was in policy custody at 5:19 p.m., court records show.

Meanwhile, paramedics rushed the two shooting victims first to FirstHealth Richmond Memorial Hospital, a short distance away up Long Drive, and then by air to Carolinas Medical Center in Charlotte for treatment of wounds sustained in the shooting.

Rockingham Police Department records in McDonald’s case file at Richmond County Judicial Center show that police bagged bloody clothing, drug paraphernalia and 13 Remington shell casings outside 1315 Cauthen Drive. Witnesses said McDonald gave the rifle suspected to have been used in the shooting to a woman standing outside the apartment. The woman, then, took the rifle into an apartment at 1321 Cauthen Drive. With a search warrant, please seized the rifle the day after the shooting.

Authorities placed McDonald in Richmond County Jail, where he remains confined on a $201,000 secured bond. Court records show that McDonald was previously convicted for delivery of cocaine in 2013 in Richmond County. He received  a suspended two-year prison sentence and probation.

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