Argument over video game led to fatal Raeford shooting, girlfriend of slain man says

Two men were killed and a third was wounded Sunday in a Hoke County shooting that the girlfriend of one of the slain men said resulted from an argument over a video game.

Posted 2:32 a.m. Dec 13, 2021 — Updated 11:50 p.m. Dec 13, 2021

Bryan Mims

and

Aaron Thomas, WRAL reporters

RAEFORD, N.C. — Two men were killed and a third was wounded Sunday in a Hoke County shooting that the girlfriend of one of the slain men said resulted from an argument over a video game.

The shooting happened in the 300 block of Tonya Loop, in the Triple J Mobile Home Park, in Raeford, shortly after 4 p.m.

Lexter McNeill, 32, went over to the home to hang out with friends and play video games, his longtime girlfriend, Whitney Jacobs, said Monday.

But then someone there became angry and started shooting, Jacobs said.

"Them boys did not deserve to die like that," she said.

The Hoke County Sheriff's Office hasn't released any information on a possible motive, but they have charged Damien Taylor with two counts of first-degree murder and one count of assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill inflicting serious injury. He was being held without bond Monday in the Hoke County jail.

Jacobs said Taylor and McNeill were friends.

"He hung out with that boy. He never had any problems. For him to do that to us, I don't know what was going through his mind for him to take Lexter's life like that," she said.

McNeill and Jacobs had six children together, with the youngest, a daughter named Essence, only a week old.

"He barely held her. She's so small," Jacobs said. "I hope the person who did this to our family knows how much pain they put us through."

McNeill's cousin, Arieonna Locklear, said he was a man she really looked up to.

"We called each other 'Bud' because we were so close," Locklear said. "Anytime you were upset, Lexter was the person to go to. Like he would make you laugh and forget what was wrong."

Nearby residents said they were hurt and stunned by the tragedy.

Carlton Barber, who has lived in the area for more than a year, said he wants the violence in his community to end.

"We've got to stop this gun violence," said Barber. "I came home to this tragedy ,and it's so sad to have him with a newborn baby. A newborn baby to enjoy, and he'll never get to see her grow up. This has got to stop."

The identities of the other man killed and the wounded man haven't been released. The wounded man was taken to Cape Fear Valley Medical Center, in Fayetteville, but his condition wasn't known.

The shooting remains under investigation, and anyone with information is asked to call the Hoke County Sheriff's Office at 910-878-1212.

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