Miss UNCP facing assault charges:
Woman kicked and punched, police report says

By Nathan Walls
Editor

Miss UNCP Aja Locklear, 19, of Maxton, was served warrants by Robeson County police last Tuesday, Sept. 30 charging her with simple assault, assault with a deadly weapon and damage to personal property, according to Maj. Randal Patterson of the Robeson County Sheriff’s Department.

According to Patterson,Victoria Lowry, 19, of Pembroke, filed a sheriff’s report on Saturday, Sept. 27 around 9:30 p.m.

Earlier that evening, between 7 and 7:20 p.m., Lowry was leaving Pembroke and a vehicle allegedly followed her until she got to the intersection of Chicken Road and U.S. 74, Patterson said.

The vehicle pulled up behind her and allegedly rammed her car, he said. Locklear, who was driving, got out of the vehicle and allegedly pulled Lowry from her car. Locklear then allegedly punched Lowry in the face and allegedly kicked her in the stomach while she was on the ground, Patterson said.

Lowry, who asserts she is three months pregnant, was taken to a hospital on Saturday night, according to Patterson. She was later released.

Locklear filed charges against Lowry at the Pembroke Magistrate’s Office later on, Patterson said.

Locklear, a business management major and substance abuse minor, declined an interview and was not present for a scheduled appearance at a Parents’ Weekend event last Friday, Oct. 3. However, she did release the following statement:

“My lawyer and I feel that we should not use the media as a source of information for the public. There have been charges filed against her (Lowry) as well, which include a stalking charge, simple assault charge and two charges of assault with a deadly weapon.”

Locklear’s lawyer, Carlton Mansfield of Lumberton, was unavailable for comment.

A friend of Victoria Lowry’s family said Lowry was sick and could not come to the phone last Thursday, Oct. 2 but referred comments to Lowry’s lawyer, Arnold Locklear of Pembroke.

Attorney Locklear would not elaborate on whether or not Aja Locklear and Lowry had a history of problems.

“At this point in time it would be privileged information that I would not be able to discuss,” attorney Locklear said.

A court date on the original charges has been set for Friday, Oct. 24, attorney Locklear said.

Despite initial media reports that Locklear had lost her crown, the university has decided she will continue to serve as Miss UNCP unless allegations are proven.

“The official position of the university is that she is innocent until proven otherwise,” Pageant Executive Director and Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs Diane Jones said. “No action will be taken to relieve her of the Miss UNCP title until a decision has been made through the state judicial process.”

The university’s ruling comes despite pageant guideline No. 6, which states:

“Contestants must be of good moral character and shall not have been convicted of any crime nor shall they have any criminal charges pending, and shall possess talent, poise, personality, intelligence, charm and beauty of face and figure befitting a contestant in the Miss North Carolina Pageant.”

The guideline only applies to Miss UNCP as a contestant in the Miss North Carolina Pageant, which Locklear competed in this June.

“Those guidelines were put in place because of our franchise with the Miss North Carolina (pageant),” Jones said. “Miss UNCP is a separate corporation from the Miss North Carolina organization and is not subject to the same guidelines as Miss North Carolina.

“That’s really not valid at this point, since she has already gone to the Miss North Carolina pageant and competed. She was not crowned Miss North Carolina and we made the decision that we would treat her as any other student, giving her due process, and using the guidelines that we do for any student that has any kind of charge.”

Locklear’s platform at the Miss UNCP and Miss North Carolina pageants was domestic violence.

On the UNCP website, Locklear discussed her platform saying: “I want to help the students, faculty and the Pembroke community become more aware of the cycles of violence through outreach programs. During my reign, I would like to establish “A New Way to Grow” Foundation. Ideally, this organization will address issues of Domestic Violence using educational programs. Among these are, distinguished speakers, videos, fundraisers, and educational courses such as self-defense.”