Many questions, few answers in Wilson killings

Three days after four people were found shot to death in a Wilson County home, family members have gotten few details from investigators and are growing increasingly frustrated.

Posted 8:46 p.m. Dec 27, 2016 — Updated 5:21 p.m. Dec 28, 2016

WILSON, N.C. — Three days after four people were found shot to death in a Wilson County home, family members have gotten few details from investigators and are growing increasingly frustrated.

Tammy Lynette Pearce, 54, her fiancé, Selby Gene Outland, 47, her son, Paul Shane Pearce, 28, and his girlfriend, Dominique Nicole "Nikki" Privette, 23, were found dead Saturday in the home they shared in the 2200 block of Banks Lane East.

The Wilson County Sheriff's Office said Tuesday that two teams of deputies are working around the clock on the case, but they haven't yet determined a motive for the crime. They also refused to release any information about possible suspects, saying it could jeopardize the investigation.

"Why was my family targeted? Why did they have to do this to our family? Why did they have to take their lives?" said Nusaybah Yesmine, Tammy Pearce's daughter and Shane Pearce's sister.

Yesmine said she fears for her life until someone is arrested and charged with the killings. She met with WRAL News in a public place Tuesday, accompanied by an armed bodyguard.

"Why would somebody be so coldhearted?" she said. "My mother, my brother, my future stepfather, my future sister-in-law were good people, and they did not deserve this."

In their last text message exchange last Thursday, Yesmine said, her mother excitedly shared pictures of her new engagement ring – an early Christmas present.

She said she has asked investigators whether the killings were part of a robbery – whether the engagement ring or any other valuables were taken – but she said they haven't told her anything.

"All they can say is they'll let me know if they arrest a suspect," she said. "I asked, was it a robbery? Was it gang-related? Anything? And they won't tell me anything, nothing."

Yesmine recently moved away with her husband and converted to Islam, but she remained close with her mother, helping Tammy Pearce fight Stage 4 cancer. The battle had given her mother a new lease on life – one that was taken away on Christmas Eve.

"I just hope and pray that the guys – guy, girl, group, whoever whatever did this – I hope and pray they're caught, and I hope they throw them under the jail cell," Yesmine said.

Anyone with information about the shootings is asked to call the Wilson County Sheriff’s Office at 252-237-2118.

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