Mother of Roanoke Rapids man shot in bedroom begs community to help find his killer

Her son was shot and killed inside their home on Monroe Street two months ago.

Each morning Nichole Lee walks by the door leading to the bedroom where her son was shot and killed. It’s a constant reminder of the danger they still face right in their own home – and the justice she feels her family deserves.

Lee says her family was in bed in their home around 11 p.m. when suddenly their night took a turn.

"We heard two shots. So we get up to go see where the shots were coming from," she said.

Their neighborhood street is known for shootings. So she stepped outside to see what had happened.

She didn't see anything, so she came back inside to check on her family. Her 30-year-old son Fredrick Lee was in his room.

"So I knocked on the door. He didn’t answer, but I twisted the knob to see was he in there," she said. "And I opened the door, and I find him laying on the floor."

He was dead. From the gunshots.

Lee became hysterical while her family called 911.

Police arrived quickly to investigate. But months later, she still has no answers about her son's death. Who shot him? Was it intentional? Why did he have to die?

Roanoke Rapid's police chief Bobby Martin says the answers are right there in the community – but neighbors aren't cooperating.

Martin says his department has strong leads that they can't yet reveal to the family without putting their investigation at risk, but he feels what's holding them back most is a lack of help from Lee's neighbors.

"When somebody knows that a crime has been committed and they have information that could potentially solve a crime and give a family closure, they’re no better than the person that actually committed the crime in my opinion," he said.

Lee wears a necklace in memory of her son. He had a 7-year-old daughter, who will grow up without a dad.

She feels her family's lives are at risk living on the street where so many shootings happen, but she can't afford to move away.

And every morning, she has to walk by the door leading to the room where she lost her son.

"Every now and then when I walk past it, I’ll rub the door like Fred, I love you. Or Fred, I miss you," she says tearfully. "They took him from us."

Until justice comes, the Lee family has one message to Monroe Street. It's a plea:

"If you know something, please help me. To find out who killed my son."