Woman shot, killed outside daycare in murder-suicide

A Roanoke Rapids man shot and killed his girlfriend in front of a daycare, then turned the gun on himself in a murder-suicide Friday afternoon, said Police Chief Jeff Hinton.

Authorities said that Dawn Taylor, 38, of Roanoke Rapids, picked up a young child from a daycare in the 800 block of Franklin Street and put the child in her car around 4 p.m.

Lavern Bradley Jr., 39, approached Taylor outside the car and shot her three times, then shot himself once in the head, Hinton said.

Officers said they found found both Taylor and Bradley lying in the street. Bradley was pronounced dead at the scene, and Taylor was rushed to Halifax Regional Hospital, where she was pronounced dead.

Hinton described the murder-suicide as a domestic situation. He could not comment on the child's relationship to either adult.