Dwuan Rashawn Byrd

Photo Credit: Winston-Salem Police Department 

Michael Banks, 13

Image courtesy of the Forsyth County Detention Center 

Photo courtesy of Winston-Salem Police Department

Joseph Marshall Blevins, 47, of Walkertown, received a suspended prison sentence after pleading guilty on July 7 to nine counts of second-degree sexual exploitation of a minor. He was sentenced to 4 years and 6 months to 20 years and 4 months, suspended, and placed on 3 years of supervised probation. Blevins also received 80 days in custody but was released due to time already served. He was arrested in April after Forsyth County deputies received cyber tips and later found over 50 explicit images of children, ages 8 to 14, on his phone. Blevins is now a registered sex offender.

Winston-Salem Police have arrested eight adults and charged three juveniles following a large public fight that broke out early Sunday morning in downtown.

RURAL HALL, N.C. – On July 7, 2025, 39-year-old Daniel William George of Rural Hall was arrested as a result of an investigation conducted by the Invictus Task Force. The investigation began due to a cyber tip submitted to NCMEC (National Center for Missing and Exploited Children).

Press Release 

A 16-year-old has been arrested in connection with a shooting that took place at Truist Park in Winston-Salem on the night of July 4, according to the Winston-Salem Police Department.

Winston-Salem police recovered a body from Salem Lake Thursday morning after receiving a report around 8:30 a.m. A section of the Salem Lake Trail and marina was closed during the investigation, which is being treated as a death investigation. Authorities are working to identify the person and ask anyone with information to contact police or Crime Stoppers.

Winston-Salem, N.C. — The Winston-Salem Police Department is actively investigating a shooting that took place Sunday afternoon on the city’s north side.

A man is in custody without bond following a shooting that occurred Friday evening at a Food Lion on South Main Street in Kernersville, according to local authorities.

A 19-year-old, Mickey James Dewalt Jr., has been arrested and charged with murder and armed robbery in the shooting death of Jacob Riley Diehl, 20, in Winston-Salem. The incident occurred around 2:10 a.m. Wednesday at 201 Dalewood Drive, where Diehl was found shot and later pronounced dead. Investigators say Dewalt stole drugs from Diehl at gunpoint before fatally shooting him. Dewalt is being held without bond and is due in Forsyth District Court on July 17.

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. — A man was shot and killed by police Friday evening after allegedly shooting and injuring an officer during a confrontation in southeast Winston-Salem.

Winston-Salem, N.C. — A shooting at a local apartment complex Friday night left one woman dead and another seriously injured, according to the Winston-Salem Police Department.

A Winston-Salem man, Dangelo Scales, 32, was arrested Wednesday on a murder charge after barricading himself inside a home on East 23rd Street for several hours. Scales is a suspect in the May 24 shooting death of Alex Devonte Saunders, who was found with fatal gunshot wounds on Piedmont Circle. When officers arrived to arrest Scales, he refused to come out, leading to the involvement of the SWAT team. The standoff ended around 5:30 p.m. with Scales’ arrest. He faces felony murder and possession of a firearm by a felon charges. Scales was previously convicted of breaking and entering in 2015 and served prison and probation time. He is being held in Forsyth County Jail with no bond on the murder charge and a $15,000 bond for the gun possession offense.

A Randolph County man, Dylan Cole Jennings, 26, was arrested after allegedly firing a handgun into a vehicle occupied by two men on Interstate 74 West in Winston-Salem. The incident occurred at 9:20 a.m. while the two men, Michael Patrick Malloy Jr. and Jordan Rache Aikens, were traveling in a work van. According to police, Jennings was driving recklessly near the van before shooting into it. Neither of the men was injured. After receiving a description of the suspect and vehicle, officers located Jennings’ vehicle at a business on West Clemmonsville Road and took him into custody. Jennings faces charges including two counts of assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill, discharging a gun into an occupied vehicle, and discharging a gun within city limits. He is being held without bond at the Forsyth County Jail.