Man pleads guilty in 2011 murder of Piedmont man

A 2011 Cherokee County murder case ended Monday with a guilty plea.

38 year old Howard Christopher Pruitt,  pleaded guilty in the death of Eddie Norton, of Piedmont.  District Attorney Mike O’Dell, as requested by the court, presented a “showing” of the evidence to prove Pruitt’s guilt.  Circuit Judge Randall Cole found there was sufficient basis to find Pruitt guilty and sentenced him to 30 years in prison. According to O’Dell’s presentation, Norton, 42 at the time, was called by his girlfriend on Aug. 17, 2011, asking him to come talk to her at her residence on Cherokee County Road 18. He arrived about 1:30 a.m. and was met by his girlfriend outside her residence. As they were talking, Pruitt came walking out of the wood line where he had been hiding and shot Norton in the head with a .38 caliber revolver as he was walking to his car.