HOPE MILLS, N.C. – Khamari Harrison, a 16-year-old Douglas Byrd High School ROTC student, was tragically shot and killed in Hope Mills, North Carolina during a late-night Instagram-arranged drug deal that turned deadly.
Khamari Harrison died just after midnight on April 25, 2026, after being shot multiple times at an apartment complex on Foxridge Drive. According to police and court documents, the teen had arranged to buy $50 worth of psilocybin mushrooms from a seller she connected with on Instagram.
Nervous about meeting the stranger alone, Khamari Harrison brought along a 15-year-old male friend for backup. The pair pulled up to the meet spot off Black Bridge Road around 12:20 a.m. The juvenile witness told detectives Khamari Harrison walked up to the driver’s side window of a black sedan.
Less than 20 seconds later, four or five gunshots rang out. Both teens ran. Officers found Khamari Harrison suffering from gunshot wounds to the arm and chest. She was rushed to Cape Fear Valley Medical Center but was pronounced dead. She was only 16.
Police Say It Was an Execution-Style Setup in the Khamari Harrison’s Death
Detectives quickly identified Julius Clem Smith, 20, of Hope Mills, as the Instagram seller. Surveillance video from a nearby gas station captured Smith pulling in right after the shooting, grabbing what appeared to be a rifle, and fleeing the scene in a white Ford Mustang. His Chrysler was left behind with a bullet hole in the windshield and .223 shell casings inside.
Julius Smith — already a convicted felon — now faces first-degree murder, possession of a firearm by a felon, and drug charges. Psilocybin mushrooms were later found at his Trevino Street home.
More Arrests Connected to Khamari Harrison Murder
Smith’s aunt, 37-year-old Brittany Ruth Grant, was charged as an accessory after the fact for allegedly helping hide the vehicle used in the shooting. She has been released on $250,000 bond.
The 15-year-old friend who accompanied Khamari Harrison that night also faces charges of conspiracy and armed robbery.
