Man charged in 2013 Wilmington murder pleads guilty to voluntary manslaughter, assault with deadly weapon

WILMINGTON, N.C. (WECT) - A man charged in a 2013 murder in Wilmington appeared in a New Hanover County courtroom Friday and pleaded guilty on two charges.

Deshaun Clarida was arrested in 2019 in connection to the fatal shooting of 18-year-old Joseph David Williams on Sept. 21, 2013.

Clarida has been charged with with first-degree murder, attempted first-degree murder, and discharging a firearm from an enclosure in that case.

While already in jail on those charges, Clarida also was charged in a Nov. 15, 2019, shooting on Clay Street that left a man injured.

On Feb. 24, he pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter and assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill inflicting serious injury.

The maximum sentence that he can be handed is 431 months, equivalent to just under 36 years. However, District Attorney Ben David agreed to a plea deal with Clarita allowing him to plead guilty to felony voluntary manslaughter as well as assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill for another crime.

Clarita was sentenced to a minimum of about 19 years for the crimes and will receive credit for time served --- and because he was charged with two separate crimes that added up to the 19 years those sentences will be served at the same time meaning he’ll likely spend a decade behind bars.

David spoke to the media after the hearing and explained why it took nearly ten years for Clarita to be held responsible for his role in the death of Williams.

“The reason it took us this long to get justice It was it took people getting in trouble usually putting them in the federal system before they were motivated by their own self interest to finally give us useful information. We do not believe that this is enough time that Mr. Clarida got he’s got to serve a decade in prison. That’s obviously not enough time, but it’s all we could get,” David said.

Past news releases from the Wilmington Police Department identified Clarida as a validated 720 gang member.

According to the N.C. Department of Public Safety website, he has multiple previous convictions for charges including assault on a police office and possession of a firearm by a felon.

Updates will be provided as more information becomes available.

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