On the night of December 29 into the early hours of December 30, 2024, 16-year-old Zikera Wardlow was shot to death in Hillsborough, North Carolina. She was found in a parked Dodge Charger alongside 20-year-old De’Anthony Morgan; the car was discovered off Old N.C. Highway 86 with its doors open and the engine still running. Multiple gunshots had been reported in the area the previous night, and investigators say the shooting likely occurred then.

Wardlow, a sophomore at Discovery Charter School in Durham and a former basketball player at Cedar Ridge High School, had left home to meet Morgan so he could give her a ride for food. While they were parked on a side road, an unidentified vehicle pulled up and fired multiple shots, shattering the back passenger window. The Hillsborough Police Department, assisted by the State Bureau of Investigation, is actively investigating and has not identified any suspects. Her school has launched a GoFundMe to support the family, and loved ones describe her as bright and kind.

Does anyone who was in the Old N.C. Highway 86 area that night have information that could help investigators?