On the left: Enrique Reyes (East Carolina University). On the right: Anthony and Paula Gribble (Obituary). Background: David Lever in Pitt County court, Greenville, North Carolina (WITN/YouTube).
A North Carolina real estate agent could be killed as punishment for allegedly murdering three people in an apparent rampage, prosecutors claim.
David Lever, 55, stands charged with three counts of murder over the deaths of Enrique Reyes and married couple Anthony and Paula Gribble.
The killings took place in January this year. This week, Pitt County prosecutors revealed plans to pursue the death penalty against Lever, as reported by Greenville’s NBC affiliate WITN.
On January 10, Reyes returned home after grocery shopping. Surveillance footage captured Lever, a neighbor of the 64-year-old Greenville resident, walking to and from Reyes’ home, as reported by Pitt County Sheriff Paula Dance.
The two men had no known connection other than living on the same street, as Law&Crime reported at the time.
At some point, Lever is believed to have shot Reyes several times.
Following this, Lever allegedly got into his van and headed to a nearby gas station. There, he is accused of shooting from his vehicle. Although no one was injured, a 911 call was made, alerting authorities to the unfolding violence.
Investigators report that Lever then drove about four miles away, approached a house, and knocked on the door. The occupants, not recognizing him, didn’t answer but noticed the man leaving their driveway, according to Dance. Lever is also said to have fired shots into another home in that area.
Afterward, the suspect is believed to have driven to the home of Anthony and Paula Gribble, aged 80 and 76. Authorities suspect that this was where he fatally shot the couple.
Before dying, Paula Gribble reportedly called her son — who lived next door — and told him someone was at their home. It was this son who arrived at the home and held Lever at gunpoint while he called 911 and waited for officers to arrive, authorities said.
While they waited, Lever allegedly admitted to the son that he had killed the man’s parents.
Inset: David Lever (Pitt County Sheriff’s Office). Background: One of two crime scenes in Greenville, North Carolina, where Lever allegedly murdered three people (WITN/YouTube).
Reyes’ body was later found in his driveway by a neighbor, who reported the chilling finding to deputies as they searched Lever’s home just houses away. That search reportedly uncovered at least 50 handguns and rifles inside Lever’s home, along with several more loaded firearms and ammunition in his van.
Dance said deputies believed Lever planned on enacting more violence if he had not been stopped by the Gribbles’ son.
“Had he not been caught at the home of the Gribbles, they do believe he would have gone on to kill more people,” the county sheriff said.
Lever did not appear to be acting in his best interest during his first court appearance in January — when the disheveled-looking defendant called the judge a “motherf—er” as he walked out of the courtroom, according to WITN. The suspect is believed to have had substance abuse problems.
The deadly rampage shocked authorities, especially because Lever was a known member of the community who owned multiple properties, according to The Daily Reflector.
Still, it is the victims who have been top of mind for the community. Greenville is located about 80 miles east of North Carolina’s capital of Raleigh, and the smaller city is largely defined as the home of East Carolina University (ECU), a large public university.
Reyes was a member of ECU’s Department of Biology for 17 years before his retirement in 2022, the school said, and he had “an important and meaningful impact on our faculty, staff, and students.”
Anthony and Paula Gribble are remembered for being “active members” of their church, with their faith being “a cornerstone of their lives, guiding them through their journey together.” Their obituary says they relocated to Greenville “to be closer to their beloved grandchildren.”
