Local News

Reward Offered In Fatal Gas Station Shooting

Posted Updated
Lamar Smith
CLINTON, N.C. — A gas station company is now offering a $10,000 reward to capture a suspect in connection with a fatal shooting.

Two weeks ago, 16-year old Mercedes Wilson was shot outside a Sunoco gas station in Clinton. Police say her killer, Lamar Smith, is still on the run.

Investigators say Smith is an acquaintance of a store clerk who got into an argument with a group of teens over using the station's bathroom. During the argument, two men drove up and one started shooting at the group, police said.

A bullet hit Wilson in the neck, and she later died at Sampson Regional Medical Center, police said. Two other people involved in the argument were also injured.

The clerk -- Tijuana Lesesne -- and Ben Strayhorn were charged as accessories to the crime.

If you have any information about Smith's whereabouts, you are asked to call Clinton police at

910-592-3105

.

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