Alamance Jury Trial Begins Feb. 26 for Garyonded Stepney in 2021 Shootout

Garyonded Stepney, 46, appeared before jurors in Alamance County Superior Court charged with one count of first-degree murder for a deadly 2021 shootout at the trailer park located at 1051 Wyatt Road. Jury proceedings began Feb. 26, 2026, and Stepney has entered a plea of not guilty.

Prosecutor Morales opened the case by describing investigators’ theory that two men traveled to the Green Level trailer park to steal money and drugs from what was believed to be a stash house for the Sinaloa cartel. Morales told jurors that Harris and his brother-in-law, Steven Alexander Stewart Jr., 37, of 304 Old Lilesville Road, Wadesboro, traveled to the trailer and had picked Stepney up while en route to Green Level, though she did not explain how the two men knew Stepney.

During opening statements Morales described movements near the trailer, saying that “once they arrived at the trailer, Harris began walking toward a victim (presumably Lara), while Stepney, ‘almost boxing him in,’ started walking toward the victim from the other side of the trailer.” Morales acknowledged that Stepney and Stewart were not at the scene when investigators arrived and urged jurors to hold Stepney accountable for what she called “a reckless plan that put many lives at risk and ultimately left death in its wake.”

Court records shown in the courtroom and referenced during opening include a July 2021 arrest in Greensboro, when Stepney was charged with first-degree murder in “Lara’s death” and with trafficking heroin and cocaine. An Alamance County grand jury later indicted Stepney on the murder charge in September 2021. Stepney’s court file lists a former address of 2604 Stockton Street, Winston-Salem.

Prosecutors played 911 calls from neighbors for the jury Wednesday morning to establish location and jurisdiction. The calls were used to show that the trailer park, though carrying a Burlington street address, is located within the municipal jurisdiction of Green Level. Investigators’ belief that the trailer was tied to the Sinaloa cartel was repeated in opening statements; a FOX8 Facebook post covering the case summarized prior reporting by saying, “A man who was arrested in connection with an Alamance County shootout between what the sheriff described as rival cartels will stand trial this week.” The sheriff was not named in that Facebook excerpt.

The court record and the evidence presented in opening statements identify other gaps left unresolved in the excerpts shown at trial: the victim is referenced only as “Lara” in the court file, no full name or exact date of the 2021 shooting was provided in opening, and the prosecution’s narrative did not include defense counsel remarks in the portions of the record released so far. Trial testimony and documentary evidence expected later in proceedings will be needed to clarify the identities of “Harris,” the full identity and circumstances of the victim called “Lara,” and the broader factual links to any alleged cartel activity.

Jury proceedings will continue in Alamance County Superior Court as witnesses and additional evidence are presented.