Man sentenced to over a decade in prison after woman fatally shot in Winston-Salem

FORSYTH COUNTY, N.C. (WGHP) — A man will spend 18 to 22 years in prison after pleading guilty in connection to a fatal shooting in Winston-Salem, according to a statement released by the office of Forsyth County District Attorney Jim O’Neill.

Zemar Taveon Wilson, 20, pleaded guilty in Forsyth County Superior Court to second-degree murder.

Superior Court Judge Lamont Wiggins sentenced the defendant to an active term of imprisonment of 216 to 272 months in the North Carolina Department of Corrections according to a plea negotiation.

He was initially charged as a juvenile offender. The case was transferred to a superior court to ensure punishment beyond the age of 21.

On May 16, 2021, Winston-Salem Police Department officers responded to Piedmont Circle when they were told about a shooting.

When officers arrived, they found Latasha Monique Finney, 25, dead in front of her home. She had been shot multiple times and suffered gunshot wounds to her chest, leg, chin and back.

A male victim was shot in the shoulder.

Finney and the male victim were standing outside of a home on Piedmont Circle when Wilson approached them from behind, pulled out a gun and began shooting at Finney from a few feet away.

After he fired multiple rounds, he ran away.

During the investigation, officers spoke to multiple eyewitnesses who described Wilson and identified him as the shooter.

Officers also learned that Wilson and Finney knew each other because Finney would sell him Xanax and marijuana.

Leading up to the murder, Wilson and Finney had several altercations, including the defendant breaking into her home one month before the murder.

The eye-witness accounts were corroborated by video surveillance which showed Wilson approach the Piedmont Circle home, reach into his pocket, pull out a gun and fire at Finney and the male victim.

Law enforcement officers located the juvenile defendant shortly after the murder at a Patterson Avenue home.

Inside that home, officers found clothing that matched the clothing at the scene worn by the defendant in the video and the description provided by eyewitnesses.

Officers also overhead the defendant telling his grandmother that he was involved in a shooting at Piedmont Circle while they were searching for the juvenile.

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