Local man fatally stabbed at party

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A 19-year-old Watauga County man died early Sunday morning following a fatal stabbing at a post-prom party, sheriff's officers said in a press release.

In a press release, Watauga County spokesperson Dee Dee Rominger said Benjamin Seth Pickett, 19, no address given, was pronounced dead after being taken to Watauga Medical Center with stab wounds in the neck and shoulder.

Rominger said the party took place on Navajo Trail in Boone.

After a brief investigation, officers arrested Samuel Maurice King, 23, of 1381 Highland Hall Road in Boone and charged him with murder.

King was taken before a magistrate and ordered held at the county jail without bond. He received a June 6 court date.

As a result of the investigation by the sheriff's office and the N.C State Bureau of Investigation, Ian Edward Ellis, 23 and Colin Stephen Ellis, 18, both of 308 Navajo Trail, were arrested and charged with contributing to the delinquency of a juvenile.