On the night of March 9, 2025, 55-year-old Allen Dean McKenzie of Laurel Hill, North Carolina, was found beside his truck on Pate Street with a gunshot wound and was transported to a hospital, where he later died. Deputies first responded to reports of a possible shooting at the Laurel Hill Food Mart and then received a separate call about a person shot on Pate Street.

Authorities identified McKenzie as a possible suspect in an earlier incident at the Laurel Hill Food Mart. Following the investigation, law enforcement arrested 60-year-old David Wendell Chavis of Laurinburg in connection with McKenzie’s death; Chavis was charged with first-degree murder and booked into the Scotland County Detention Center held without bond. The circumstances and full sequence of events leading up to the shooting remain under investigation.

If anyone witnessed events around the food mart or on Pate Street that night, can you share what you saw or any information that could help clarify what happened?