A Faison-area woman has been arrested and charged in the shooting death of her husband following a dispute in their northern Sampson County home on Sept. 13.
Karen Rene Hobbs, 45, of 144 Calvin Hobbs Road, Faison, turned herself in to Sampson County Sheriff’s authorities Thursday morning on a charge of second degree murder. Despite the name listed on her arrest report, Karen Rene Holland, acquaintances said Friday that her actual name is Karen Rene Hobbs, known as “Rene,” and that Holland was her name under a prior marriage.
She is currently in the Sampson County Detention Center under $1M bond. She stands charged in the murder of Timothy “Tim” Louis Hobbs, 48, of Calvin Hobbs Road, Faison.
The shooting occurred sometime after 10 p.m. Sept. 13, according to information previously released by sheriff’s officials. On that date, deputies responded to a shooting incident at 144 Calvin Hobbs Road and upon their arrival, found a male subject deceased inside the residence from “an apparent gunshot wound.”
Few details surrounding the shooting death have come to light since. Even in the wake of Thursday’s arrest, Sheriff’s officials were fairly mum Friday, releasing just a general statement.
“Through evidence gathered at the scene and interviews conducted, enough probable cause was developed to consult with the District Attorney’s Office about charges in the shooting incident that occurred on Sept. 13 on Calvin Hobbs Road,” the Sheriff’s statement read. “The facts show that after a dispute at the residence the suspect shot Timothy Louis Hobbs, 48, of 144 Calvin Hobbs Road, with a firearm which led to his death.”
As news of the arrest spread on social media, friends and acquaintances of both Tim and Rene Hobbs expressed their shock and sadness about the news, and offered prayers and condolences to the Hobbs family.
Tim Hobbs is survived by his two girls, Meagan and Cayla, from a previous marriage. He was employed with Goodyear in Fayetteville. In his obituary, it stated that he “will be fondly remembered for his love of being outside, working in the yard, grilling out with his girls, taking pride in his work and a job well done.”
Rene Hobbs, who worked as a nurse with Goshen Medical Center, has two sons from a previous marriage, as well as two granddaughters.
“Prayers for … a good friend and prayers to his children,” Kenneth Gautier commented about Tim Hobbs.
Sampson County Medical Examiner Dr. Carl Barr was at the scene early the morning following the Sept. 13 shooting and said at the time that it appeared to be a single shotgun wound, which entered in the area of Tim Hobbs’ back, at an angle, exiting the opposite shoulder.
“It was not a straight-in shot,” Dr. Barr stated then. “I think he died pretty quickly.”
While it was unclear what led to the shooting, he said it was believed it may have followed a domestic dispute. Accounts from others have since confirmed as much. The two were the only ones at the Faison-area home at the time, but accounts from Rene Hobbs to her stepmom Mary Ann Padgett was a verbal fight and an ensuing scuffle over a firearm. Padgett has maintained the shooting was accidental, and occurred in the act of self-defense.
“Prayers to Rene and her family and Hobbs family,” Padgett stated in a Facebook post on the Independent’s page in response to the news. “Thank God for sparing your life, and so sorry Tim lost his life … only God knows what really happen (sic) when so scared at gunpoint.”
Investigators have released no such information to back the claims of Padgett.
According to N.C. General Statute, while first degree murder encompasses “willful, deliberate and premeditated killing,” or those committed in the perpetration or attempted perpetration of a variety of other felonies committed or attempted with the use of a deadly weapon, second degree murder applies to a murder falling out of that description.
No further information was available in the case, Sheriff’s officials said. Holland has an initial court date of Oct. 9.