BELMONT, N.C. — The family of a Belmont man is experiencing relief after the suspect in his case was not offered a plea deal.
Last March, police said D’Shaun Robinson admitted he and Andy Tench went to a bar and then back to a hotel.
At some point, Robinson found Tench unresponsive. He later admitted to police that he dumped Tench’s body in a dumpster.
On Tuesday, Tench’s family presented a judge with a petition with thousands of signatures and asked him not to accept a plea deal.
The judge chose to take no action. Then the assistant district attorney said the state was withdrawing that plea agreement.
[ PREVIOUS COVERAGE: Suspect denied plea deal in Belmont man’s disappearance ]
This was the second time prosecutors tried to get a judge to accept a deal that would allow Robinson to plead guilty to concealing a death and identity theft and receive up to 17 months in prison.
However, Tench’s body has never been found, and his family wants Robinson to face a harsher punishment.
“The dumpster at Country Inn Suites. We don’t even know if there was a cadaver dog over there. We’re just going off of, ‘Andy got put in a dumpster. Andy got dumped into a landfill. You guys just need to accept.’ Which we’re not doing, because it just doesn’t seem right,” said family friend Christian Eidson.
Channel 9 has reached out to the District Attorney’s Office for a comment on this case.
They said since this remains a pending case, they are ethically prohibited from commenting.
VIDEO: CMPD won’t search landfill for missing Belmont man; family not giving up
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