Salisbury, NC: Suspect in slaying waited as police arrived

Published Friday, August 20, 2010 11:00 PM

By Scott Jenkins
sjenkins@salisburypost.com

When police responded to the shooting of a 25-year-old woman on Oakhurst Drive on Thursday, the man now charged with her murder was waiting for them.

“He did not try to flee,” Salisbury Police Chief Rory Collins said Friday.

Collins would not say whether Denis Omar Funez-Flores confessed to killing his live-in girlfriend, Kendy Patricia Funez.

Hers was the ninth homicide this year in Rowan County. There were seven in all of 2009.

Funez-Flores, 26, remains in the Rowan County jail without bond. He made his first appearance in court Friday.

Funez-Flores, 26, was advised of the potential punishment if he’s convicted of the crime, which could include life in prison or death, District Court Judge Beth Dixon said.

Funez-Flores was also declared indigent, meaning he’s eligible for a court-appointed attorney. The Spanish-speaking man said through an interpreter he didn’t know if his family would help him pay for an attorney.

Salisbury Police officers responded to a call just after 4 p.m. Thursday at 165 Oakhurst Drive. The caller said a woman had been shot and wasn’t breathing.

Officers found Kendy Funez lying on a bed. She had been shot in the face.

There were signs of a struggle in the mobile home, and investigators said the shooting was the result of domestic violence. Police say he had been drinking.

Collins said there had been no previous calls to the Oakhurst Drive home for domestic violence investigations. He said police had investigated a call about suspected drug activity there. It was unclear Friday if charges were filed after that call.

Funez-Flores is the sixth person to be charged with murder in Rowan this year. Kendy Funez was the ninth victim.

All the 2010 murders have happened since late May. The other cases are:

• Timothy Alan Perkins of South Craige Street was stabbed to death May 23. Police said the stabbing resulted from a domestic dispute and charged Aaron Anderson Wilks.

• Terry Dwayne Lark, 32, was shot to death at his home at 226 S. Clay St. on May 23. Police found bags of marijuana in several areas of the house. No arrests have been made.

• Jerry Bullin and his wife, Jody Bullin, both of Conover, were murdered June 2 after coming to Rowan County to sell a car. Authorities say Fredrick S. Hedgepeth shot the couple and hid their bodies inside Ingram MotorSports on Auction Drive. A judge ruled he can face the death penalty if convicted.

• Brandy Nicole Lyons is charged with second-degree murder in the June 25 shooting of Roy Daniels Jr. Authorities said Daniels had previously been charged with domestic violence offenses against Lyons.

• John C. Lambert is charged with murder in the shooting death of Larry Thomas Andrews Jr. on June 27. Lambert is also charged with the murder of Mickey Wayne Jordan who died days after the shooting in downtown Salisbury. Police say it happened after a confrontation at a bar. He also could face the death penalty if convicted, a judge ruled.

• Larry W. Call is charged in the stabbing death of Kevin Michael Rufty on June 27. Rufty’s body was found in a car on Grubb Ferry Road by firefighters responding to a reported wreck.