Local News

Family remembers 22-year-old Fort Bragg soldier shot, killed by active duty soldier

A woman killed Friday afternoon in a shooting in west Fayetteville has been identified as Kelia Horton, an active duty soldier stationed at Fort Bragg.

Posted Updated

FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. — A woman killed Friday afternoon in a shooting in west Fayetteville has been identified as Kelia Horton, an active duty soldier stationed at Fort Bragg.

Horton, 22, was shot on the 1400 block of Ferndell Drive near Cliffdale and Raeford roads, shortly before 1:30 p.m., according to police.

On Sunday morning, Horton's family spoke to WRAL News about their lost loved one.

Horton was the mother of two children.

Family members say she had a love for people – and a love for serving her country.

"My cousin was the sweetest. She would give you the shirt off of her back. There was nothing bad you can say about Kelia," said Jadiah Farris, Horton's cousin.

Fort Bragg soldier Tiara Nicole Vinson, 26, was charged with first degree murder, connected with the death of a Fort Bragg soldier.

Police have identified a suspect as Tiara Nicole Vinson, 26, who is also an active duty soldier stationed at Fort Bragg.

She's been charged with Horton's murder – first degree murder and discharging a firearm into an occupied property.

She's being held without bond.

WRAL's Gilbert Baez spoke with Cumberland County District Attorney Billy West, who said the two women had more than their military service in common.

"What we appear to have is that the defendant had a previous relationship with a gentleman that lived at the location where the homicide occurred," West said.

West says on Friday afternoon, Vinson and Horton arrived at the man's home about the same time, and that's when the altercation began.

Our victim was in an existing romantic relationship with the gentleman that lived in the home," West said. "A verbal altercation took place between the two of them, and our allegation is that the defendant, at that point, began firing into the car."

 Credits 

Copyright 2024 by Capitol Broadcasting Company. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.