Rocky Mount Stabbing Victim Laid to Rest

Hundreds of people attended Debbie Kornegay's funeral service at the Church of the Good Shepherd, including Gov. Mike Easley and Attorney General Roy Cooper.

"It is a testament to who she was as an individual, to the way in which she touched people's lives,” Rev. Scott White said.

Kornegay, the director of Rocky Mount's Meals on Wheels, and Eve Beasley, the assistant director, were attacked Thursday. They were preparing meals at Lakeside Baptist Church when, police said, a man entered the kitchen and stabbed them multiple times.

Kornegay, 58, was pronounced dead at Nash General Hospital. Beasley, 60, survived and was listed in serious condition at Pitt Memorial Hospital Sunday afternoon.

Tommy Lee Holiday, 30, faces charges in Kornegay's death and Beasley's attack. A police officer arrested Holiday in an Edgecombe County park Friday morning.

Police said the women were helping Holiday find a shelter when he stabbed them.

"There is no sensibility to it. There is no reason to it. It's a tragedy. It is not by the hand of God, it is by the hand of another human being," Rev. White said.

“I am torn up because it is a tragedy and a sad thing that happened to a very dear friend,” Meals on Wheels worker Bobby McDonald said.

Holiday was being held without bond in the Nash County jail. He was also charged with resisting, delaying and obstruction; two counts of armed robbery, and larceny of a motor vehicle.

Court records show Holiday was released from prison in Nash County in August after serving 11 months on a felony breaking and entering conviction. He also has several convictions dating to 1993 on charges ranging from larceny, larceny of firearms and robbery.

Holiday's first court appearance is scheduled for Tuesday morning.