Somebody told me jersusalem cherry. but having never seen one of those, I am not sure.

Could very well be. Solanum pseudocapsicum. But its been badly chewed on by some pest.

It's a bit hard to judge scale, but it seems to match Solanum pseudocapsicum. The leaves look wider in your photo, but they should have a width of 3 cm. It also resembles Verbesina, because of the winged petioles, but I don't see a flange running down the stem, like in Verbesina species. The leaves are supposed to have a smell, no description of the smell, but I'm assuming a tomato leaf type of smell? Your friends are probably correct. Also looks like a Sphinx Moth caterpillar might have used it for a meal. Is Jerusalem Cherry a popular, cultivated plant in NC?