Hedingham shooting: Trial date set for September 2025 for accused teen shooter
A potential trial date has been scheduled for Sept. 22, 2025, for Austin Thompson, the teenager accused in Raleigh's Oct. 13, 2022, Hedingham mass shooting.
In a brief review hearing on Thursday afternoon to determine a timeline Thompson's case, a judge set the date for 2025. Thompson's defense attorney also requested a change of venue; however, a venue for the trial has not been announced.
Thompson, now 16, is believed to be in custody in a juvenile facility and was appointed a public defender last year. The teenager is facing five counts of murder, two counts of attempted murder, two counts of assault with deadly weapon with intent to kill and one count of assault with firearm on law enforcement officer.
In October, a judge ruled Thompson -- who was 15 when investigators say he killed five people, including his brother, in an east Raleigh neighborhood -- should be tried as an adult.
Case against Austin Thompson proceeds slowly
District Attorney Lorrin Freeman tells WRAL News this case has a massive amount of evidence to work through.
Freeman had previously estimated Thompson's case will go to trial in 2025. Thompson will not face the death penalty if convicted, as federal law prohibits the death penalty for those who are younger than 18 at the time of their crimes.
Freeman previously told WRAL News the case is one of her top priorities in office, in part due to a massive amount of evidence to sift through.
"It is a case we have taken seriously from the beginning and one that brings challenges due to the number of victims ... and [the] fact that it was a multi-agency response," Freeman said.
If Thompson is convicted, he could face life in prison for each of the five homicides, Freeman said.
Father cited for failure to store gun linked to Raleigh mass shooting
Thompson's father, Alan Thompson, was cited on a charge of storing a firearm in a manner accessible to a minor.
WRAL News is working to learn which weapons were taken from the Thompsons' home.
Timeline: Five killed in Raleigh mass shooting
Five people were killed in the Oct. 13, 2022, rampage that started at Thompson's home on Sahalee Way and preceded through the Hedingham neighborhood to the Neuse River Greenway.
Those victims were:
- James Thompson, 16, brother of the suspect
- Officer Gabriel Torres, 29, who was on his way to work at the Raleigh Police Department
- Nicole Conners, 52, who was shot on her front porch with her dog
- Susan Karnatz, 49, who was running on the Neuse River Greenway
- Mary Marshall, 34, who was shot on the Neuse River Greenway
Thompson also allegedly shot and injured two people:
- Raleigh police officer Casey Clark was injured during the search for the shooter
- Marcille "Lynn" Gardner, a special education teacher, who lived in the Hedingham neighborhood
