Dad describes seeing pistol held on child

RAEFORD - David Frye, beaten and bruised, looked up and saw his 3-year-old daughter dangling from a man's hand and watched helplessly as the man put a pistol barrel in the crying girl's mouth.

It's an image Frye has repeatedly played in his head since Sunday, when two men forced their way into his home on North Wright Avenue in Raeford and terrorized his family.

"I begged him to kill me instead of the young'un," Frye said, struggling to maintain his composure during an emotional interview at the Raeford Police Department on Tuesday.

For 40 minutes, the two men - who wore bandanas over their faces - beat and kicked the 49-year-old Frye and pointed a pistol at his daughter's head, threatening to kill her.

The nightmare began about 1:30 p.m. as Frye, his wife, Billie Sue, and their daughter were relaxing. Frye was on the couch, ready to nap.

He heard the storm door rattling and figured it was his father-in-law, who was returning a piece of equipment.

Billie Sue answered the door. A young black man asked for directions. Seconds later, he pushed his way into the home, dragging Billie Sue by the arm.

Another man came in the house and the two demanded access to guns, money and a safe, David Frye said.

As he tried to get off the couch, one of the men hit him in the face with a pistol. Frye fell to the floor.

One of the men grabbed Frye's daughter by the arm and put the pistol to the girl's head and then place the barrel in her mouth.

"Tell the little (expletive) to shut up or I'll kill her," the man said.

Frye managed to get between his wife, who was on the floor, and the gunman.

Frye said he struggled to his knees and pleaded with the man.

"I got on my knees and told him to shoot me," Frye said as he choked back sobs.

The man dropped the child and began beating Frye while his accomplice ransacked the house.

The phones were yanked from the walls. Computers were smashed on the floor.

Then, one of the men found a .22-caliber rifle under a bed, walked back into the living room and hit Frye in the face with the stock.

When the men found the family's cell phones and ATM cards, they beat and kicked Frye until he gave them his PIN.

Then, they found shotgun shells and continued kicking Frye in the face and chest until he finally passed out.

As Frye began to regain conscious, he said, he heard one of the men ask, "Is he dead?"

Then he heard a response: "We can't leave no witnesses."

That was when the men, purely by accident, found the closet - hidden by items piled in front of it - where Frye had stashed his rifles.

Once the men had the guns, they left, warning Frye not to go to police - or they'd be back.

Frye is convinced that the discovery of the guns is the only thing that saved his family.

That may have saved his family from more physical harm, but there's no erasing the psychological damage that was done.

Billie Sue Frye and the couple's daughter refuse to go back into the house. The family has been staying at an undisclosed location.

Frye said he thinks the men may know his 17-year-old son.

"My son's been hanging with some bad people," he said.

Raeford Police Chief Michael Dummett believes the incident is related to gang activity, which he says is increasing in the town, along with violent crimes.

"This is a horrific crime that happened," Dummett said. "This is a man who was on his couch on a Sunday afternoon, taking a nap, and these people came in his home.

"This is everybody's problem," he said.

Meanwhile, Frye and his family no longer feel safe in this town of 4,100 people.

"I've lived on the same street since 1970," Frye said. "I live in my parents' house, and I've never locked my doors. Never even thought about locking them."

It's likely the family will move into another house, if not out of Raeford, he said.

Frye said he can't shake the memories.

"The only thing I keep seeing is him holding that little baby by the arm with a gun in her mouth."