Staff report
The stepson of a man gunned down at his home in Summer Place has been charged with his murder.
Robert Douglas Earnhardt, 30, of 165 Leisure Lane, was charged this afternoon with the murder of Billy Tommy Elmore last Thursday.
Earnhardt is also charged with assault with a deadly weapon inflicting serious injury in the shooting of Tiffany Marie Barbee, 21, of Statesville,who remains in Carolinas Medican Center in Charlotte recovering from a shotgun wound to her arm.
According to the Rowan Sheriff’s Office, the shooting followed months of domestic turmoil for the couple who had apparently married in 2003. Both had children by previous marriages.
Elmore had moved out of the house a week before and was living with a son in Statesville.
Elmore’s wife, Patty Kesler Earnhardt Elmore, had taken out a protective order the day before the shooting. The order was sent to the Iredell County Sheriff’s Office, but had not been served when the shooting occurred.
Robert Douglas Earnhardt is being held in the Rowan County Detention Center without bail.