Judge calls his sentencing of Virginia man who killed alligator ‘a little unusual; it’s an unusual case’

Investigating officer, N.C. Wildlife Officer John Schlegel, stands next to an illegally killed alligator in Stumpy Point. (Photo courtesy N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission)

By Corinne Saunders

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STUMPY POINT — The Dare District Court judge who found a Virginia man guilty of illegally shooting to death an American alligator in Stumpy Point this spring said of his sentencing: “It was a little unusual; it’s an unusual case.”

Noah Voyles of Chesapeake, Virginia, 22 at the time he was charged and 23 now, pleaded “no contest” in Dare District Court on May 1 to the unlawful take of an animal on the endangered species list, online court records show.

A biologist’s necropsy of the 12-foot animal, which was estimated to be 50 years old, “confirmed the alligator was shot numerous times and had died of its wounds,” according to a Tuesday press release from the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission about the incident.

Judge Robert P. Trivette found Voyles guilty and sentenced him to 45 days in the custody of the Dare County Sheriff’s Office, but he suspended the sentence for one year of unsupervised probation subject to several conditions. Monetary conditions included paying $2,000 in restitution, a $100 fine and $183 in court costs.

The conditions of probation also included the forfeiture of Voyles’ firearm to the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission; abiding by all wildlife laws; and completing 200 hours of community service within 180 days at a designated home address in the 200 block of Eagle Creek Road in Moyock.

When asked about the community service order at the home, Trivette said that he was following the lead of the family and punishments they already had planned.

“His dad was his lawyer, which is a little unusual,” Trivette told Outer Banks Insider.

“It was kind of to incorporate what they were already [doing]…they had kind of imposed some penalties on him too, because his family was super pissed at him,” Trivette said. “He was already going to do some work there [at the house in Moyock] as part of that.”

He added, “The number 200 [hours] was my number, and they’ve got to provide proof that they’ve done it.”

The sentencing was “a little bit unusual—I admit it—a little bit out of the box,” Trivette said. “He seemed like a good kid and his family was just really pissed at him, as everybody down there should be, and I get it.”

He said he was trying to work with the family and added that the community service program can’t supervise out of the state.

Currituck County property records show that the current owners of the home signed the deed on Nov. 10, 2025. They do not share a last name with Voyles, and their relationship is not immediately clear.

On April 2, N.C. Wildlife Officer John Schlegel received a report that a large American alligator was dead and floating in a canal near Stumpy Point, off U.S. Highway 264 on the Dare County mainland, according to the Tuesday press release.

Schlegel and Officer Alex McPhail, in investigating the alligator’s death, learned from a member of the public that a video of the incident was circulating on social media, the release said.

Schlegel signed the April 6 charging document, which stated that he saw a video taken on March 17 “of the defendant shooting an alligator” from U.S. Highway 264 near Stumpy Point. He found both the alligator and 9mm casings along U.S. Highway 264.

“While interviewing Mr. Voyles, he admitted to discharging the firearm and illegally killing the alligator,” Schlegel wrote in the charging document.

Voyles was charged with the take of an American alligator during the closed season and with the unlawful take of a wild animal on a protected wild animal list, as the American alligator is on the state’s threatened species list.

The first charge was dismissed by the district attorney as part of the plea agreement, according to court records.

The district attorney on May 1 also dismissed three separate charges against Voyles as part of a plea agreement, court records show.

The Southern Shores Police Department on March 19 filed charges with an offense date of the same day as the alligator killing, March 17, charging Voyles with carrying a concealed weapon, having an expired registration card or tag and “expired/no inspection.”

“Those offenses happened later that same day,” Lt. John Beardsley of the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission said. “He [Voyles] was down there at Stumpy Point, killed the alligator, then was later stopped up there in Kitty Hawk by a police officer and was found to be in possession of a firearm concealed, and that’s where those charges stem from.”

Voyles paid his $2,283 monetary judgment for the alligator’s killing on May 1, court records show.

The $2,000 restitution goes to the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission to aid biologists with American alligator research and management, according to the press release.

“There is no clear motive in the killing of the alligator, as it was just sunning itself on the bank of the canal,” the release said. “This case highlights the dedication of our officers and biologists in protecting North Carolina’s wildlife and holding violators accountable.”

The release encouraged members of the public to help protect wildlife by reporting violations using NC WILDTIP online, through text or through the app.

To learn more about alligators in North Carolina, visit www.ncwildlife.gov/species/alligator-american.

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