It appears as though the City of Winston-Salem has reached a settlement with Daryl Hunt. That should close the matter, at least in most people’s minds:
Although Hunt was exonerated by a Forsyth Superior Court judge in 2004 and pardoned the same year by Gov. Mike Easley, some people have not laid to rest their suspicions that Hunt had something to do with the crime.
Durant Stimson, for example, was one of several people who called the Winston-Salem Journal in the past few weeks to talk about Hunt’s request for compensation. Stimson, 85, wanted to know yesterday whether taxpayers would be able to get their money back if Hunt is compensated and then Brown later says that he did not act alone.
“What if that happened?” Stimson asked. “I’m suspicious that he (Hunt) had something to do with it, but I don’t know that for a fact.”
Believe it or not, I don’t care about the taxpayers’ money on this one. I just want Deborah Sykes, the woman who met such a violent end while on the way to work, to rest in peace after long 23 years. But no matter what happens at the city council’s Feb. 19 meeting, Sykes won’t rest in peace until at least April, when the documentary The Trials of Daryl Hunt is aired on HBO.
