Officers were dispatched to a "gunshot wound" call at the Doubletree Hotel on Meridian Parkway at 11:25 p.m. Sunday. When they arrived, they found 22-year-old Tamara Quick, of Durham, in the hotel lobby. Quick, who was conscious and alert, had suffered a gunshot wound to the face and ran to the lobby for help.
"(She said) 'I need help, I've been shot'," said Hotel Manger Stuart Doring. "(There is) a little shock -- and a lot of concern."
Officers found 31-year-old Jermaine Lunsford, of Durham, inside a car in the parking lot. Lunsford had been shot once in the head and was pronounced dead at the scene.
Friends and some family members said Monday that they could not believe Lunsford would try to kill Quick.
"It just doesn't add up," friend Lekeisha Jeffers said.
Jeffers said she had just saw the couple together last week.
"He loved Tamara," Jeffers said. "I hear people saying ex-girlfriend, but I would never think that."
Lunsford had no history of violence, but did have a criminal record with several drug and theft charges. WRAL has learned that Lunsford left behind four young children.
Quick graduated from N.C. Central University in December is an accountant. She was taken to a local hospital for treatment. Family members said Quick was in surgery Monday morning and is expected to recover.
Although police say there was no history of violence between Quick and Lunsford, domestic violence is the leading cause of injury to women ages 15 to 44 in the United States -- more than car accidents, muggings and rapes combined.
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