By Sarah Nagem
Robeson County saw a significant drop in reported murders in 2024 after experiencing what might have been a record high the prior year.
Law enforcement agencies in the county investigated at least 41 homicides last year, according to a list compiled by the Border Belt Independent. That’s down from 51 in 2023. (The 2024 figure could change when the State Bureau of Investigation releases its latest data.)
The Robeson County Sheriff’s Office said it investigated 29 homicides last year, down from 41 in 2023. Sheriff Burnis Wilkins said he didn’t know what caused the spike or the drop. “It’s hard to put your finger on it,” he said. “Homicides are one of those (things), you don’t know when they’re going to happen.”
Robeson saw an increase in homicides during the COVID-19 pandemic, a trend experienced across the United States. The national homicide rate increased 30% in 2020 compared to the prior year, the largest one-year increase in more than a century, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Experts have said stress from the pandemic and protests against police brutality likely played a role.
In 2023, the nation experienced a decline of 11.6% in murders from the previous year, the FBI said. North Carolina saw a similar drop during that time. Homicides continued to decline in 2024, but the FBI has not yet released final numbers.
The number of murders in Robeson County is still higher than before the pandemic. The county saw 22 homicides in 2018 and 25 in 2019, according to the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation.
Robeson County, home to about 117,000 people in southeastern North Carolina, has long struggled with violent crime, which local District Attorney Matt Scott calls a symptom of poverty, drugs and hopelessness. Robeson had the highest violent crime rate among the state’s 100 counties in 2023, according to the State Bureau of Investigation.
Wake County, which has a population 10 times the size of Robeson, saw 56 homicides in 2023 — only 15 more than Robeson.
Scott said his office can barely keep up with the number of cases moving through the Robeson County court system. The state assigns 13 prosecutors to the county, but Scott said studies show Robeson needs 24 or 25.
Scott was pleased to see the drop in homicides last year. “When we can reduce the number of cases coming into the system,” he said, “that’s extremely helpful.”
Wilkins said the sheriff’s office added a fourth homicide detective at the start of 2024. Previously, he said, three detectives investigated every murder. Now the detectives work in pairs, which allows them to have more time off. The office also added a third evidence technician, a major crimes detective, a domestic violence detective and a deputy who is a sworn U.S. Marshal.
The office also hired more deputies to work patrol. Wilkins said there were 20 deputy vacancies at the start of 2024; now there are four.
Scott said a team-based approach is helping reduce the number of homicides, and the number of fatal drug overdoses. A consortium of law enforcement agencies, nonprofit groups, medical professionals and more have been working together to tackle the opioid epidemic in Robeson County.
Robeson saw a 7% drop in fatal drug overdoses in 2023 compared to the prior year, according to the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services. But the county still had among the state’s highest rates of fatal drug overdoses.
“When you’re coming together to tackle tough issues,” Scott said, “I think you’re going to see great results. And we have seen great results.”
Who are the victims?
The youngest person murdered in Robeson County in 2024 was 7-year-old Quazariya Williams. The girl was shot and killed on Nov. 11 when Maxton police say her father, Dedric Page, fired a gun into a car. Investigators said the girl’s mother was the intended target. Page was charged with first-degree murder and attempted first-degree murder.
Three people were killed on or near the campus of The University of North Carolina at Pembroke in less than a month in two separate shootings. Khalil Alford, 19, who previously attended UNC Pembroke, was shot and killed Feb. 7 at the on-campus University Courtyard Apartments. Cameron Taylor, 22, and Nicholas Logan, 19, were killed in a March 2 mass shooting when a fight broke out at an off-campus apartment complex.
Wilkins said detectives solved all but one of the murders investigated by the Robeson County Sheriff’s Office in 2024: the death of Marcus Edward Carter. Carter died Dec. 28 on his 45th birthday, according to his obituary.
Wilkins and Scott said Robeson County has seen a sharp increase in violent crimes committed by juveniles. At least four 17-year-olds were charged with murder in the county in 2024.
Lumberton police were still searching this week for 17-year-old Jaylan Gray West, who was charged with first-degree murder in the death of 44-year-old Billy Ray Huggins on Dec. 21. Huggins was struck and killed by a vehicle outside a tobacco shop on West Fifth Street.
Lumberton police were also searching this week for 17-year-old Ezekiel Burden. Burden was charged with first-degree murder in the death of 42-year-old Brandy Nicole Olson inside Walmart on Dec. 20. Another suspect, 18-year-old Brian Campbell, turned himself in to police and was charged with being an accessory after the fact.
Investigators reportedly said Olson, who was standing in line at the Woodforest Bank inside the store when she was shot, was not the intended target. A $5,000 reward is being offered for information leading to Burden’s arrest.
Nearby counties
Neighboring Bladen County also saw a drop in reported murders: at least three in 2024, according to the BBI’s tally, compared to nine the prior year. The county reported no homicides in 2018 and 2019.
Columbus County saw at least five homicides last year, up from three the prior year. The number in Scotland County held steady at 10.
