GASTONIA, N.C. — For seven years the murders of a Gastonia man and woman went unsolved. Today, the investigation ended with a plea deal.
To this day, police had no forensic evidence linking Marcus Meadows to a murder in 2018. In 2020, his codefendant, Britney Gidney, told someone in jail that she and Meadows killed two people in a home in west Gastonia.
That woman told police, and Gidney agreed to testify against Meadows.
“Confession to killing Brenda Henson herself and identified Marcus Meadows as the person who killed Robert Metcalfe,” said the prosecutor, Zack Holeve, in court.
Meadows’ attorney said that confession was the only tie Meadows had to the murder. Just as they were prepared to select a jury, Meadows decided to take a plea.
The most Meadows said today in court was that he was guilty, which was enough to close a double murder case and give the victim’s daughter a reason to smile after seven years.
Channel 9 spoke with Chasity Massey, who went to her mother’s home on Mary Avenue in 2018 hours after the double murder.
“Being the one that found her that day was one of the worst things I have ever had to witness,” said Massey.
Massey’s mother, Brenda Henson, had her throat cut and the prosecutor said Henson’s friend Robert Bryan Metcalfe was beaten with a hammer and stabbed.
Meadows pled to second-degree murder and a minimum of 20 years in prison. The prosecutor shared the news with Metcalfe’s mother.
“She was elated that her prayers had been answered. Within everything that was going on, she wasn’t sure if she would ever see justice in this case,” said Holeve.
Meadows has already served almost five years in jail. Last year Gidney also pleaded guilty to second-degree murder. She received a sentence of 10 years in prison.
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