A pastor has settled for $4.4 million after spending eight years in prison. He filed a lawsuit alleging that the Town of Winterville and several police officers withheld crucial evidence that would have proved his innocence. Rev. Darron Carmon spent eight years behind bars after being convicted of armed robbery in 1994. He was released in 2002 for good behavior. The town denies any wrongdoing.
Carmon filed the suit after negotiations fell through. The pastor, who founded the Rebuild Christian Center Church in Winterville and Greater Village Gate Church received a pardon of innocence from North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper in November. He filed the lawsuit after Pitt County Superior Court Judge Marvin Blount overturned his conviction in 2022
Rev. Carmon expressed his feelings in a statement. “I don’t agree with what I had to do to get here. I feel like it should’ve been a simpler process. I’ve had to prove my innocence about three times. Next for me is to continue what I have already been doing. I have organizations in place to address certain issues; mentoring for kids without fathers and ‘People Against Racism.'”
The Town of Winterville rejects Carmon’s accusations of wrongdoing in the “strongest possible terms.” According to officials, a clerk at a Fresh Way store identified the Rev. as the suspect who robbed the store at gunpoint in 1993. Officers showed the victim several booking photos, and he said there was “no doubt” that Carmon was the man who had threatened his life and robbed the store.
In a statement, the town said “The District Attorney who prosecuted the case testified in this civil proceeding that having eyewitness testimony as the only available evidence in a convenience store robbery case was typical for the early 1990s. Surveillance cameras were not in general use in Greenville-area retail stores at the time, much less in a small-town convenience store.”
Witnesses described the suspect as 6 feet tall with an Afro. Carmon, who was 19 at the time, was shorter than 6′ and had a different haircut. According to his lawsuit, the officers concealed his fingerprints, which did not match those found at the scene. The town denies this fact and says that it is based on a rumor from Carmon’s parents, who allegedly heard an officer gloating.
“Mr. Carmon’s parents testified that the investigating Officer made this statement at the police station when the store clerk was going through the photo lineup book in which he identified Mr. Carmon as the robber,” Winterville said. “However, the investigating Officers both testified that the photo lineup was shown to the store clerk at the Fresh Way, not at the police station.”
“Neither the Town nor the Officers paid any of the settlement proceeds, as the full settlement amount will be paid by the insurance companies. As part of the settlement, all parties specifically agreed that neither the Town nor the Officers admitted to any wrongdoing,” the Winterville press release explained. “The Town is pleased to have this matter resolved, and is ready to move forward.” Carmon has vowed to return to his work now that he has been proven innocent.