ROWAN COUNTY, N.C. — Deputies have arrested two people and charged them in the murder of a Rowan County woman whose burned body was found on the side of a rural road east of Salisbury last Friday.
Residents watched Friday as deputies shut down Leonard Road, a rural street where several homes blocked with crime tape and Sheriff's Office cruisers.
A passerby discovered the body of 33-year-old Amanda Smith around 6:30 a.m. Officials said she had been dumped on the grassy shoulder of the road and was badly burned.
(Amanda Smith)
"She was loved by somebody and that life shouldn't have been taken,” said Don McIntyre, who lives on Leonard Road.
McIntyre lives just yards away from where the discovery was made. Deputies knocked on his door but unfortunately he couldn’t provide them with much information.
“They asked me if I heard anything last night, any commotion and I said, ‘no,’” McIntyre said.
McIntyre wondered if the person responsible for the woman’s death committed the crime elsewhere and then dumped the body on the side of the road.
That’s what Goldie and Eddie Compton believe, as well. The mother and son also live on Leonard Road.
“This is highly unusual,” Goldie Compton said. “I've lived here for 20-25 years."
The Comptons said investigators told them that Smith's body was so badly burned it was difficult to even initially confirm her ethnicity.
(Tim Smith and Stephanie Hall)
On Monday morning, deputies announced they had arrested Tim Smith Jr. and Stephanie Hall in connection with the victim's death.
Detectives said that earlier Friday morning, a home on Honeysuckle Lane was destroyed by fire. Investigators told Channel 9 that the fire was intentionally set.
Investigators said Amanda Smith was last seen in the presence of Smith and Hall in Salisbury, and determined they were suspects in her murder as well as the arson.
On Monday, deputies in Rowan County were notified that Smith and Hall were found and arrested near Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. They have been charged with first-degree murder, robbery and second-degree arson.
“I just can't believe someone would do something like this around here,” Eddie Compton said.
Another neighbor, Korey Deese, woke up to the sound of fire truck sirens.
"The trailer was totally on fire. Pretty much burnt down all the way at that point," he told Channel 9.
"It's just sad. It really is," Sierra Howard said.
She lives across the street.
“That poor child has to go the rest of his life knowing all this happened and without his mom, you know. That’s what makes it so horrible,” Howard said.
Investigators have not yet released how they believe the woman was killed.
The investigation is ongoing.
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