news-record.com

GREENSBORO - N.C. A&T students mourned a classmate and neighbor while some worried about their own safety Monday, a day after A&T senior Dennis Hayle was slain outside his off-campus apartment.

Hayle, 22, was walking through a breezeway between two apartments at Campus Courtyard about 3:35 a.m. Sunday when he was shot.

Police on Monday had few leads and no suspect description in the city's third homicide of 2009, said Capt. Janice Rogers, commander of the department's criminal investigation division.

When detectives arrived at the apartment, several people were outside, but Rogers said police had found no witnesses to the shooting.

Hayle's death was the second shooting reported at that address in eight days. A man was injured in a shooting there Jan. 17, police said.

Several students gathered outside the apartment Monday said they were thinking about staying with nearby relatives. A few said they were trying to break their leases.

"When something like this happens, you begin to ask yourself, 'How safe is the place really?" said T.J. Thompson, a resident at Campus Courtyard.

At a news conference Monday, university spokeswoman Mable Scott said the school has talked with apartment owners about making their properties safer for students.

Pickering and Co., the company that manages Campus Courtyard, employs a security guard for the apartment, said Tami Burton, a district manager.

Burton declined to elaborate on the company's security policy.

"Our heartfelt sympathies go out to the family and friends of the victim and we hope that the perpetrator of this horrible crime is quickly brought to justice," said Burton, reading from a statement.

Hayle was a senior studying criminal justice and political science. He was a native of Hempstead, N.Y.

Friends and classmates said he had a ready smile and tried to make others happy, too. He was active in volunteering, student government and a fraternity.

"He's the most kindhearted person," said Robert Hudson, a recent A&T graduate. "He wouldn't have done anything to anybody. I've never even seen him mad."

Hudson got to know Hayle through the Omega Psi Phi fraternity when Hayle joined in 2005. Hayle would often spend time with Hudson's family in Fayetteville since he couldn't often visit his own family in New York, Hudson said.

"He became part of my family," Hudson said.

Attempts to reach Hayle's family were unsuccessful Monday.

Hayle's death was the city's third homicide in four days. Since 2000, the city has averaged two homicides every January.

"It's bad that we got them all at one time, but it's not unusual," Rogers said. "It's unfortunate that we caught all three of these in a four-day period.

"You absolutely cannot predict a homicide," Rogers said. "We don't feel like any of those three homicides are connected to each other."

Police ask anyone with information to call Crime Stoppers at 373-1000 or the criminal investigation division at 373-2255.

Contact Sonja Elmquist at 373-7090 or sonja.elmquist@news-record.com

Contact Joe Killian at 373-7023 or joe.killian@news-record.com