Former Rolesville High principal helped students be seen, 'gave them a voice'

A former high school principal who touched many lives in Wake County is being remembered as noble and caring in the hours after she died.

Ericka Lucas was the principal at Rolesville High School for three school years before leaving in 2015. The tragic nature of her death, having been caught up in gunfire not meant for her, has friends and family members reeling.

Millbrook High School assistant principal Sebastin Shipp said Lucas was one of the few African-American women to be a high school principal in Wake County at the time of her service. She was also the assistant principal at Millbrook from 2018 to 2020.

“This was a woman who loved her community, who loved her family, and who gave every ounce of herself to be sure that people were better in her presence,” said Shipp.

Lucas died Monday night, two weeks after she was shot on Aug. 29 at a Wake Forest home on East Nelson Avenue.

Wake Forest police said Lucas was not the person targeted in the shooting. 

Lucas was often seen at Wake Forest football games, where her husband, Reggie Lucas, has been the head coach since 2009.

Wake Forest Mayor Vivian Jones said she was "deeply saddened" by Lucas' death and she died at the hands of "such a senseless crime."

“For every student that she touched, particularly students of color, it allowed those students to really be seen and to be heard and to feel like they had a voice anytime they were in her presence," said Shipp. "They felt like they could carry that voice beyond high school and into their own lives.”

Dexter Lamont Mills, 18, and his 16-year-old cousin were arrested in connection with the crime on Tuesday. Mills appeared in court on Wednesday where he was held without bond on charges of first-degree murder and possession of a stolen firearm.