Wendell, N.C. — A man who said he found his wife dead inside their Wendell home early Tuesday morning has been arrested and will be charged in her death.

Jakiem Lance Wilson, 22, was taken into custody late Tuesday and was expected to be charged with first-degree murder in connection with Nneka Wilson, 24, by early Wednesday.

Wilson has a criminal record, primarily on drug charges.

Authorities would not say what led them to Wilson, who they said had been cooperating throughout the course of their investigation.

Early Tuesday evening, they found items they believe were involved in the crime near behind an abandoned service station at the corner of Martin Pond Road and Eagle Rock Road.

Investigators would not say what the items were but did say they were in the house before the crime.

Detectives were also speaking with other individuals, and two more arrests could follow by Wednesday morning.

Wake County sheriff's deputies were called to the scene on Eagle Crossing Drive at about 6 a.m. Tuesday.

Wilson told a 911 dispatcher that he had returned home and found his wife dead.

"I just came in the door, and the back door is kicked in and my wife is on the kitchen floor. I haven't even checked on my kids yet," a sobbing Wilson told the dispatcher.

He said a message was scrawled in blood on the floor next to her body, saying "Your (expletive) is dead. You're next."

Investigators have not said how Nneka Wilson died. Her body was sent to the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner in Chapel Hill for an autopsy.

Two children were also found unharmed inside the house, authorities said. They were staying with relatives Tuesday night.

Neighbors were stunned by the slaying.

"I'm still devastated. I just cannot believe it. I don't personally know the people. I know the area," neighbor Gwen Spivey said. "It's very quiet, never been a whole lot of trouble. I've been here all my life, there's never been any trouble hardly."

But neighbor Anna Bowers said that when the Wilsons first moved in, there were lots of different people in and out of the house, loud music and sometimes fighting.

"They argued occasionally. They argued loudly and slammed doors," Bowers said.

Relatives of Jakiem Wilson told WRAL the couple, who was married in 2004, had a good relationship as far as they knew. The victim's stepfather, James Hill, however, said the two argued often and that Nneka Wilson would often stay with him after an argument.

"I knew he had something to do with it," Hill told WRAL after Jakiem Wilson was arrested. "He used to beat her all the time."