WHITEVILLE, NC — The defendant in the first homicide recorded in Columbus County in 2022 has been convicted in Superior Court, bringing a long-delayed case to a close.
A jury pronounced 73-year-old Lawrence Thomas guilty on Friday, July 31, 2026, for the murder of 28-year-old Hazel Leach. Thomas has been incarcerated since his arrest in March 2022. Special Superior Court Judge George Hicks presided over the trial, with Jenna Earley prosecuting the case and J.B. Lee representing the defense.
The fatal shooting occurred in January 2022 (though some earlier reports cited February 21, 2022, as the date deputies found her). According to the Columbus County Sheriff’s Office, Thomas and Leach were in a relationship. Thomas allowed Leach to stay at his property on MacMillan Road in Whiteville, while he resided in Elizabethtown. Deputies discovered Leach deceased on a bed with a gunshot wound to the head.
On the night of the murder, Clinton Police encountered Thomas on Faircloth Freeway and observed him driving 85 mph in a 55 mph work zone. During the ensuing pursuit, Thomas struck and damaged at least three vehicles before he was stopped. He was charged with driving while his license was revoked with a DWI rider, speeding, felony fleeing to elude arrest, and reckless driving to endanger.
Thomas was initially released on bond for the traffic offenses, and his vehicle was seized. Columbus County detectives later learned of his arrest and requested that the Elizabethtown Police Department help locate him.
Thomas was officially arrested for the murder on March 4, 2022, at 511 Newkirk Street in Elizabethtown. Detectives had executed search warrants on both his vehicle and his home, discovering “evidence relating to the homicide,” according to press releases from the time.
The path to a trial was significantly delayed due to concerns over Thomas’s mental competency. Court documents show that in 2022, a defense-hired psychiatrist diagnosed Thomas as incapable of standing trial. Following a March 2023 hearing, then-Superior Court Judge Douglas Sasser ordered Thomas to Cherry Hospital in Goldsboro for treatment and “restoration”.
However, staff at Cherry Hospital informed court officials that Thomas was uncooperative and unable to accept treatment. He was subsequently transferred to Central Regional Hospital in Butner. After further evaluation, he was finally deemed competent to stand trial in 2025, paving the way for Friday’s guilty verdict.
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