James Chambers spent all of Saturday cleaning up from an overnight break-in and ransacking at his business and a neighboring one on West Franklin Boulevard.
The owner of Advantage Auto Sales hoped nothing worse would come of the crime, which involved the theft of a shotgun. But after learning that firearm had caused the death of a 22-year-old Gastonia man Saturday night, Chambers was reminded of a foreboding passage.
“Sin will take you farther than you want to go, keep you longer than you want to stay and cost you more than you want to pay,” said Chambers, an associate minister at Soul’s Harbor Tabernacle in Gastonia. “I think that’s exactly what happened.”
Gastonia police charged 18-year-old Christopher Douglas “Doug” Guiton, of 1812 McFarland Ave., early Sunday morning in connection with that break-in and theft. On Monday, they also charged him with voluntary manslaughter for pulling the trigger of the shotgun that killed 22-year-old Larry Darnell Hoyle on Saturday night at the home where they both lived.
At the time of the shooting, Guiton was out on bond for three previous counts of breaking and entering and larceny, as well as charges of trespassing, drug possession and other misdemeanors, said assistant district attorney Robert Forbes. During a first appearance in District Court Monday, Judge Jim Jackson increased Guiton’s bond at the Gaston County Jail to $300,000 based on the new charges.
Guiton declined a court-appointed attorney and said he plans to hire his own lawyer. During the video arraignment, he broke down and sobbed as his aunt, Mary Sanders, pleaded for his bond to be lowered.
“This was an accident,” Sanders said through tears, speaking to Jenkins. “I know he knows what he done was wrong.”
Another cousin of Guiton’s reiterated that, and said Hoyle was Guiton’s “best friend.”
Forbes asked for a higher bond, while testifying to the grisly result of the shooting.
“Based on the photographs of the deceased I saw this morning, this was a close-range shot with a shotgun,” he said.
Guiton told Jenkins he had been living with his grandmother in Cherryville until he moved in with his aunt about five months ago. He is unemployed.
Guiton and his family members in the courtroom said ‘I love you’ to one another before the arraignment ended.
Police were called to 1812 McFarland Ave., about 9 p.m. Saturday. They arrived on the chaotic scene to find Hoyle lying on the living room floor with a fatal shotgun wound to the face.
The shooting was witnessed by Hoyle’s girlfriend, 18-year-old Samantha Walker, and their 6-month-old daughter, Desirae, was just a few feet away at the time. They are also residents of the house, along with a number of other extended family members.
When authorities arrived, no one at the house would initially give any details about what had happened, said Gastonia Police Sgt. Jimmy Arndt. But after intense questioning of multiple people there, Guiton admitted to accidentally pulling the trigger.
Once police realized how he had acquired the shotgun, they charged him with larceny of a firearm, breaking and entering, larceny after breaking and entering, and larceny of a motor vehicle.
The voluntary manslaughter charge was added after detectives conferred with the Gaston County District Attorney’s office.
Other suspects were also involved in the break-in with Guiton, and charges against them are pending, Arndt said.
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