Sheriff’s deputy along with a group of armed white men are charged with 'terrorizing a black family as they attempted to force their way inside their home to demand information about a missing girl'

A sheriff's deputy in North Carolina is facing criminal charges after authorities said he led a group of armed people to the wrong home in a search for a missing girl.

New Hanover County District Attorney Ben David said Friday that Jordan Kita, who worked in the New Hanover Sheriff's Office is to be charged with trespassing and breaking and entering.

Kita who was still in uniform led an armed group May 3 to the home of Dameon Shepard, a senior at Laney High School in Wilmington, according to James W. Lea, a lawyer for Shepard´s family who is preparing a civil lawsuit.

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High school senior Dameon Shepard and his mother, Monica, left, say a large group of armed people, including an off-duty deputy, terrorized them in their home in their search for a teen

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The group were caught on surveillance cameras approaching the front door of the home 

'We obviously cannot have armed groups of citizens patrolling the streets of Pender County or New Hanover County terrorizing innocent families. Add to the fact that they were also accompanied by apparently a New Hanover County Sheriff’s Deputy that was off duty and armed, makes this matter particularly egregious,' Lea wrote in his letter to the District Attorney’s Office.  

Lea said the entire episode was a 'quintessential Southern story' and that the group who attempted to gain entrance into the Shepard's home was a 'lynch mob, literally.'

'They might as well have shown up with a noose in a tree,' Lea said to Newsweek.

The all-white group tried unsuccessfully to force its way into the home of Shepard, who is black.

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The all-white group tried unsuccessfully to force its way into the home of Shepard, seen left

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The group were looking for a man named Josiah who lived next door, but Dameon, pictured, said his mother explained that nobody by that name lived at the address

'He just said 'I'm going to step inside, close the door and talk to you guys.' And I said, 'no you're not.' He had his foot on the threshold of my door, holding the door open and he said it again, he said 'I'm going to step inside close the door and I'll talk to you,' when I said 'no you're not,' Shepard explained to WCET. 

The Pender County Sheriff's Office was called to the disturbance but no arrests were made at the time.  

Kita said he was looking for Lekayda Kempisty, a 15-year-old girl who was reported missing earlier that day. She was later found safe.

In its effort to find Lekayda, Kita's group was searching for someone named Josiah who used to live next door.

Shepard told news outlets that he repeatedly tried to point out to the group that they had the wrong house and that a yard sign out front explicitly congratulated 'Dameon' on his high school graduation, but it was to no avail.

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Monica Shepard pointed out to the group that the only teen who lived there was her son, Dameon and even showed them the sign that was sitting on the front lawn 

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A lawyer for the family say the group who attempted to gain entrance into the Shepard's home was a 'lynch mob, literally'

Shepard's mother, Monica Shepard, also told the group they should leave, according to Lea.

'Coming to the door like that with a mob of people with guns, what do we expect? What were their intentions?' Monica Shepard told WECT. 

'What if he was the person they were looking for or what if I was not home? What would've happened? I don´t want to have that conversation. I don´t want him to be a statistic. It´s scary.'

David said there was believed to be some sort of familial relationship between Kita and the girl.

Authorities said Kita has been fired. It's unclear whether he had an attorney who could comment.

A second man in Kita's group is also facing a criminal charge for 'going armed to the terror of the public.'

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New Hanover County District Attorney Ben David, left, and Pender County Sheriff Alan Cutler, seen right, announced the charges on Friday, five days after the incident

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New Hanover and Pender Counties District Attorney Ben David, center, along with Pender County Sheriff Alan Cutler, right, speak at a news conference in Burgaw, North Carolina

A spokesperson for the Pender County Sheriff's Office said they are investigating the 'disturbance,' but have declined to provide any additional information, citing the ongoing investigation. 

Shepard says the family is putting their trust in the justice system.

'One thing I’ve always told my children is in life we have choices, all of our choices we have consequences to those actions,' she said. 'So, I can’t really say whether Kita’s firing is enough or not, all I can say is I trust that they’re doing what they have to do to make sure they are following their policies based on what was done.