The mother of one of the suspects charged with murder in a drive-by shooting in Robbins last week says her son could not be a killer.

Sharon Branche also says the weapon her 18-year-old son, Michael Lee Stidham Jr., is holding in a photograph on his MySpace Web page is a BB gun.

Stidham is charged with first-degree murder in the shooting death of another teen, 18-year-old Tomas Pascual.

Branche said she didn't think her son had the mental capacity to commit such a crime. "I don't know anything about the others that were with him," she added.

Pascual was standing on a corner opposite the Methodist Church when a red Camaro allegedly took a circle turn to pull up beside him and four or five others, according Pascual's niece, Ester Pascual. Words were exchanged and a question was asked. She said her uncle raised his hands in a "don't-know" gesture, she said.

Tomas Pascual was shot in the abdomen, and the car sped away. Pascual died after being airlifted to UNC Hospitals, Chapel Hill.

"There were at least five or six young men standing there when he was shot," Robbins Police Chief Jeff Sheffield said. "There had been an altercation earlier in the day at the home of one of the suspects."

In addition to Stidham, Sheffield charged Briant Andrew McKinney, 16, of 475 Hemp St. in Robbins, with first-degree murder. He charged McKinney's brother, 17-year-old Trae Bradley McKinney and their mother and stepfather, Tara Lynette Reynolds, 34, and Benjamin Allen Reynolds, III, 35, all of the same Robbins address, with being accessories.

"The fight was at their (the McKinneys') home," Sheffield said. "Pascual wasn't there. Somebody else hit Trae McKinney."

Despite claims to the contrary, emergency crews responded quickly, according to Sheffield.

"Moore County EMS was on the scene within four or five minutes," he says. "As soon as he (Pascual) was stabilized, they took him down to Robbins Mill Park where the helipad is while the helicopter was on its way."

For distraught family facing the terror of such events, time can seem to slow. Ester Pascual thought it took far longer for EMS to reach her uncle, but call detail reports clearly show nearly immediate response.

A similar psychological experience happened at the time of a recent Taylortown bank robbery. A bank manager later complained to the Town Council about delayed police response. Records show the first officer arriving on the scene within two minutes of the 911 call.

Officers with the Moore County Sheriff's Office arrived on the scene and assisted with the investigation. Sheffield and investigators worked through the night on the case, and he had to go to the medical examiner's Chapel Hill office the following day after booking in defendants at the county jail.

Stidham and Briant McKinney are being held without bond in the Moore County Detention Center.

Branch doesn't see how her son, Stidham, could be held responsible, even if it turns out he pulled the trigger and killed Pascual.

"If someone said 'Do this, you are the guy to do it' to scare somebody, he might do what they told him," she says. "Michael would never hurt anybody on purpose. He wouldn't."

Monday, April 13, will be the first appearance in court for her son and others charged.

Contact John Chappell at 783-5841 or by e-mail at jchappell@thepilot.com.