16-year-old charged with murder in shooting death of 18-year-old at Sanford graduation party

Sanford police said Jason Lamont Harrington, of Sanford, was found with gunshot wounds in the parking lot of the hotel on Friday night.

He was taken to Central Carolina Hospital where he was pronounced dead.

"We were right here, I was in room 210," said a witness. "All the kids were in room 116. I went to my room, but there was like 15 to 20 kids in the parking lot."

Police said that a parent had rented a room at the hotel for her son to have a graduation party.

"I heard two gunshots -- I looked out the window and I see the boy behind my car ... I see the shooter shoot the boy two more times and he fell to the ground, and then the shooter picked his hat up and he took off," she described. 

A 16-year-old has been arrested in connection to the shooting death. The teenager was charged with murder and possession of a firearm by a minor.

A witness to the shooting said it was traumatizing.

"I have not slept all night. You think about the family [and] the parents. There was a girl that said that was her brother," added the witness.

The teenager is currently at a juvenile detention center in Raleigh.

The Southern Lee Class of 2021 graduated Friday night from Cavalier Stadium.

Sanford Mayor Chet Mann said he was deeply saddened to hear about the shooting.

"It's tragic and unacceptable, especially involving people of this age," said Mann in a statement. "Please plan safe and supervised graduation celebrations. We should never support the idea of allowing minors to be alone under any circumstances in a hotel room as a part of a graduation celebration. The results are tragic."