Family struggles to understand shooting death

As Fayetteville police continue their investigation into the shooting death of a Hope Mills man, his family and friends are struggling to figure out why someone would kill him.

Officers responding to a report of a shooting early Monday found the body of Kenneth Barnard Green, 34, lying next to his pickup outside a home on Catawba Street.

"Kenny was a good guy," his wife of five years, Denise, said. "He didn't have an enemy in the world. Kenny was a sweetheart."

Investigators have not named a suspect or provided a possible motive for the shooting, but Denise Green said her husband's wallet and cell phone were missing.

"For someone to do this to him, I don't understand it," his brother, Dwight Green, said Tuesday.

"If you asked, he would give you every dime in his pocket," Denise Green said. "He would not fight."

Kenneth Green was at the home Sunday night playing cards with friends. They said he left the house around 12:30 a.m. and that shortly thereafter, they heard a gunshot and his car alarm.

"In the year I've known him, I've never seen him get in a fight or in an argument," friend Kevin Ballard said. "He never had anything but positive things to say. We're still all in shock."

Kenneth Green, who worked at Eaton Corporation in Fayetteville, was described as a caring and friendly person.

"Anybody who knew Kenny knew he didn't have a bad bone in his body," his wife said. "He was a hard-working man. He took care of me and his little girl."

Green had a 2-year-old daughter and a 22-year-old stepdaughter, who graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill last month.