On the evening of April 26, 2025, 27-year-old Robert Sessoms was fatally shot around 5:00 p.m. in the 500 block of Minnow Way at Smith Creek Village Townhomes in Wilmington, North Carolina. Sessoms had reportedly gone to the residence to pick up his nearly two-year-old son, Preston, from the child’s mother when an argument broke out with 42-year-old Aaron Metcalf of Leland. Authorities say Metcalf fired multiple shots; responding officers and EMS performed life-saving measures but Sessoms died at the scene.

Police arrested Aaron Metcalf and charged him with voluntary manslaughter; he made a first court appearance on April 30, 2025. Family members have disputed the manslaughter charge, saying the shooting was intentional and asking that charges be upgraded to murder. They also said Metcalf had allegedly threatened Sessoms about a month earlier.

Sessoms was described by his family as a devoted father who worked as a delivery truck driver and hoped to start a trucking business with his sister. Funeral services were held May 6, 2025, at Union Missionary Baptist Church; a GoFundMe was set up to assist with funeral expenses. Anyone with information is asked to contact the Wilmington Police Department; did anyone in the area see what happened that evening?