The North Carolina Supreme Court has rejected an appeal from a man who killed a military veteran in a Greensboro hotel room in 2014 and is currently serving life in prison for his convictions.
The announcement was made Tuesday by North Carolina Attorney General Jeff Jackson and the North Carolina Department of Justice, as part of the upholding of criminal convictions and sentences in 13 Court of Appeals opinions released Aug. 19. Another 11 North Carolina Supreme Court opinions were released Aug. 14.
A Guilford County judge convicted Garry Joseph Gupton of first-degree murder and first-degree arson in 2017. At the age of 26, he killed U.S. Army veteran Stephen Patrick White, 46, at a hotel after having met him at an LGBT nightclub in November 2024 the same evening.
The judge sentenced him to life in prison, plus an additional 64 to 89 months for arson. Gupton appealed the decision to the state Court of Appeals in 2019.
After the Court of Appeals upheld the convictions, Gupton filed a motion for appropriate relief in 2020, claiming that his trial attorneys were ineffective.
But in a 5-2 decision filed on Aug. 14, the court ruled that Gupton—who had worked for the city of Greensboro’s water department at the time of his arrest—could not pursue these claims because he did not raise these arguments during his first appeal.
“As attorney general, my top priority is keeping people safe,” said North Carolina Attorney General Jeff Jackson in a statement. “My office will continue taking on these fights in court to ensure justice is upheld and to protect North Carolinians from crime. I’m grateful to our prosecutors for fighting to deliver justice in every case.”
The Night of White’s Death
The two men left Chemistry Nightclub and left together in a cab around closing time in November 2024, according to witnesses speaking to the press at the time. They then traveled to a local hotel.
A hotel employee reported a man screaming, followed by a fire alarm going off. Firefighters and police found White in a room filled with smoke, burned and unconscious, according to court records at the time, cited by WFMY News 2.
Guilford County Assistant District Attorney Howard Newman told CBS News at the time that it appeared White was struck with a telephone, television and another piece of furniture. He was transported to Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center in Winston-Salem for treatment.
But White, an Army veteran who had served in Iraq as a security contractor in 2005, died with burns on over 50% of his body, a week after the attack.
The Associated Press reported that parts of both of his arms had been amputated following the attack.
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