Investigators Looking for Clues in Slaying of Fayetteville Man

Corey Thompson was shot to death on Jan. 13 outside the Grove View Terrace Housing Complex.

Friends said the 27-year-old didn't drink, didn't smoke and worked a second job at a Smithfield's restaurant along with his primary job at a Popeye's restaurant.

"He brought laughter everyday," Barbra Lewis said.

Lewis hired Thompson to work at Popeye's about four years ago. He turned out to be more than just a hard worker, she said. He became family.

"He believed he was my cousin, and after a while, I believed he was, too. He was just a good guy," she said.

When Thompson didn't show up for his shift last week, employees became worried.

"I don't know why anyone would want to hurt him. He never did anything wrong," Danielle Raeford said.

Thompson's body was found outside Building 75 at about 7:45 p.m. He had been shot several times and died at Cape Fear Valley Medical Center.

Friends said Thompson had just left a friend's apartment and was near his car when he was gunned down. A neighbor who heard the gunfire called 911.

"I did not want to believe it," his mother, Donna Thompson, said.

Donna Thompson said she was coping on a day-to-day basis with her son's tragic death. From the time he was little, she said, her oldest son always had a smile on his face.

"I'm hoping the person that did this will be caught and that justice will be served," she said.

Thompson's coworkers at Popeye's restaurant also want the person responsible to come forward.

"I miss him so much. I was sitting here waiting for him to pick me up from work yesterday and I realized he's not coming," Raeford said.

Thompson's mother said her son was planning on going back to college.  Friends said he was also about to get engaged.