15-Year-Old Charged in Harnett County Triple Murder of Family Members, Two Retired U.S. Army Veterans

Deputies say a 15-year-old is accused in the Harnett County triple murder that left his aunt, uncle, and grandmother dead — two of them retired U.S. Army veterans.

A 15-year-old boy in North Carolina is accused of killing his aunt, uncle, and grandmother — two of them retired U.S. Army veterans — in a triple homicide in Harnett County, according to the Harnett County Sheriff’s Office.

Deputies said they were called around 5:18 p.m. Tuesday to a home on 19 Kentucky Derby Lane in Lillington after receiving a chilling 911 call from a 10-year-old boy. The caller, the nephew of the victims, reported that Danny and Sabrina Richards had been shot.

Danny & Sabrina Richards Found Dead

When deputies arrived, they found 57-year-old Danny Richards, a retired U.S. Army command sergeant major and senior pastor at Genesis Grace Ministry in Fayetteville, dead from what authorities described as gunshot wounds.

His wife, Sabrina Richards, who turned 54 that day, was also found dead. She was a retired U.S. Army staff sergeant.

Grandmother Dies Hours Later

According to the Sheriff’s Office, deputies also discovered 74-year-old Clara Richards outside the home suffering from a critical gunshot wound.

Emergency radio traffic reported by MyDailyRecord indicated Clara had managed to make it outside after being shot in the abdomen. She was rushed to Womack Army Medical Center, where she died hours later.

Teen Suspect Located After Manhunt

The 10-year-old who called 911 was not physically harmed, but deputies said the family’s truck — and the suspected shooter, identified as 15-year-old Ja’kerrion Cunningham — were missing.

Sheriff’s officials said Cunningham was under the Richards’ care at the time of the shooting.

Around 8 p.m., the truck was found abandoned in a wooded area near NC Highway 87 and Nursery Road on the outskirts of Fort Bragg in Spring Lake. Three hours later, deputies located Cunningham in the woods and took him into custody.

Triple Murder Charges Filed

The Sheriff’s Office said Cunningham was initially charged via juvenile petitions with two counts of first-degree murder, attempted murder, and assault with intent to kill inflicting serious injury.

Following Clara Richards’ death, a third first-degree murder charge was added.

In North Carolina, juveniles charged with certain serious felonies — including first-degree murder — may be prosecuted as adults. The Sheriff’s Office has not yet confirmed whether Cunningham’s case has been transferred to adult court.