On January 1, 2025, at about 3:22 a.m., officers responded to a reported shooting at the Motel 6 in the 3700 block of Bragg Boulevard in Fayetteville and found 36-year-old Donquiez Wilbridge in the parking lot with a gunshot wound. He was taken to Cape Fear Valley Medical Center and later died; his death was recorded as the city’s first homicide of 2025. The Fayetteville Police Department’s Homicide Unit opened an investigation.

No arrests or public suspect identifications have been announced. Authorities asked anyone with information to contact Detective B. Pleze at 676-2596 or Crimestoppers at 483-TIPS; a cash reward of up to $2,000 is being offered for tips that lead to an arrest. Wilbridge was a Fayetteville resident; friends and family have shared condolences online and a funeral service was held on January 19, 2025. His prior arrests in 2013 and in 2023 are noted as separate from this incident.

Does anyone have information about Wilbridge’s movements that night or saw suspicious activity near the Motel 6 on Bragg Boulevard?