District Attorney To Review Fatal Shooting of Hunting Companion

Evidence collected by state authorities in the investigation into the fatal shooting of a North Carolina man in southwest Cherokee County has been turned over local officials.

Mark McKinnon, spokesperson for the Georgia Department of Natural Resources Law Enforcement Division, said his office has turned over the case file to Shannon Wallace, district attorney for the Blue Ridge Judicial Circuit.

DNR has charged Christopher Carver, 41, with probation violation and making false statements in connection to the shooting death of Dennis David Orr of Robbinsville, North Carolina.

Wallace, whose circuit covers Cherokee County, said she has scheduled a meeting this week with state officials and investigators with the Cherokee Sheriff’s Office to review the evidence handed down by the state.

McKinnon said the investigation remains active and other charges are pending in the case. Additionally, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation has completed an autopsy on Orr, but McKinnon said those results have not been released at this time.

On Sunday, Oct. 26, Carver and Orr were deer hunting near Hunt Road in the extreme southwest portion of the county when Orr, 51, was fatally shot in the abdomen, McKinnon said.

Several witnesses — including Carver — were interviewed in the case. However, McKinnon noted Carver, who was “briefly” interviewed, allegedly gave false statements to officers conducting the interviews.

According to his obituary, funeral services for Orr were held last week at Lone Oak Baptist Church in Robbinsville, North Carolina.

He is survived by his parents, wife Shelly Orr; daughters Lyndsey West and her husband Jordan of Fairbanks, Arkansas, and Cheyenne Orr and Lillie Orr, both of Robbinsville; son Trey Bartley Orr of Robbinsville; brothers and sisters-in-law Darold and Janet Orr and Danny and Susie Orr, all of Robbinsville; and his brother-in-law Johnny Rogers and his wife Angie of Robbinsville.

Photo: Christopher Carver, 41, of Acworth. Credit: Cherokee Sheriff’s Office