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11:32 p.m. • 2-10-12

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Father slain seven years after mother's murder


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Logan Suter
Logan Suter

A Dunn family has been torn apart by a weekend shooting that left a father dead and his stepson charged with murder, the victim's mother said Tuesday.

Logan Matthew Suter, 17, is charged with second-degree murder in the Sunday night shooting death of Edward "Chris" Lancaster, 33, at their house at 112-A Fairfield Circle. He was being held Tuesday in the Harnett County Jail under a $150,000 bond.

Investigators said Lancaster was shot once in the abdomen with a 12-gauge shotgun.

"He walked upstairs, got my grandson's shotgun that he got for Christmas (and) loaded it," Lancaster's mother, Sally Murphy, said of Suter. "He knew what he was doing."

Murphy said Lancaster's two children, 12-year-old C.J. and 14-year-old Chelsea, were home at the time of the shooting. She said Chelsea called her grandmother and authorities to report the shooting.

"She said, 'Logan has shot Daddy,' and she had me on the house phone and 911 on her cell phone," Murphy said.

The slaying was devastating for the two children, whose mother was killed in 2002, she said.

Brenda Renee Lancaster, 27, was shot to death on Easter in 2002, and her body was dumped in a drainage ditch along Interstate 95 near Dunn. Her former boyfriend, Kenneth Earl Byrd Jr., was convicted of murder in the case.

"They've ... lost their mother to murder seven years ago, and now they've lost their father to murder. They have nobody left," Murphy said.

Chris Lancaster was released from prison last year after serving time on a gun charge. Murphy and other relatives said he was trying to get his life together when he was killed.

She said she plans to be at every court appearance and every hearing for Suter.

"He deserves to be punished. My son and my grand-babies deserve justice," she said. "That's the only child I had. He was my world, and he is gone."

RELATED TOPICS: Harnett County

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I am a really good friend of the family & I have known them for quiet a while. Chris was a good guy from what i could see but logan was a better person who really would never do anything this bad unless situations were called to this measurement. The family has went through so many rough times but some how always stuck togeather even when times got worst. Logan would pull everything togeather while the rest of the family would try their best to stay togeather & love each other. Chris could make anyone laugh by just making this hilarious face & cheer you up. Logan would always be willing to give a hug when your in doubt to anyone. Chris will be missed by any including me. But Logan needs to be with his family of what they've got left of it & he always holds them togeather.

As a close friend of Logan's father and stepmother I am sure they appreciate all of the support for Logan. Please keep in mind there are always two sides to every story and I know in my heart that Logan would never maliciously harm anyone or anything.

If someone had made Logan's father and stepmother aware of the situation they would have gotten him out of it before it was to late.

lock up your guns people! The life you save could be your own...

first of all....lock up all guns....no matter who they belong to.....especially when you have children or unstable people in the home......

dang...this is a terrible story....all I know for sure is that those two kids are coming up rough as hades.....

Sounds like its time to sit back and wait for more information on this one... Awful story so far, though.

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