Dispute over free-ranging pigs leads to shooting, prison sentence for one man

By Kari Barrows

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    JACKSON COUNTY, North Carolina (WLOS) — An argument over free-ranging pigs in one Western North Carolina town led to a shooting and now a minimum 23-year prison sentence for one man.

District Attorney Ashley Hornsby Welch announced on Monday that a Jackson County jury returned a verdict of guilty, rejecting defense attorney Frank Lay’s argument that Kenneth William McCall, 68, acted in self defense during a shooting that happened in 2020.

District Attorney Welch explained that back in October 2020, Kenneth McCall and William Walker McCall, 39, had gotten into a dispute about free-ranging pigs on a property in Tuckasegee. William McCall reportedly said the animals were rooting up and damaging the family owned Pinhook Valley Campground on Charleys Creek Road. William then shot one of the pigs. In response, Kenneth McCall shot into William’s vehicle, striking him two times in the torso.

William was driven to McCall’s Grocery in Balsam Grove, where a call was made to 911. He was then taken by helicopter to Mission Hospital with life-threatening injuries.

In her press release, Welch said it was “a miracle that William Walker McCall survived his wounds.”

Superior Court Judge Bradley B. Letts sentenced Kenneth McCall to serve in prison a minimum of 23 years up to a maximum of 30 years.

Assistant district attorneys Andy Buckner and Jenica Hughes were the co-prosecutors, District Attorney Welch said, and Jackson County Detective Sgt. Brandon Elders served as primary investigator.

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