Helisa Stewart Hayes, 27, was murdered on November 17, 1991, in Fayetteville, North Carolina. The attack also killed her two children, 8-year-old Phillip Hayes and 7-year-old Darien Hayes. The killings devastated the family and the local community.

Authorities identified Earl Richmond Jr., a former Army drill sergeant, as the person responsible. Richmond was also charged in an earlier killing: the April 5, 1991, death of 24-year-old Army Specialist Lisa Ann Nadeau at Fort Dix, New Jersey; Nadeau was found bound, beaten, stabbed, and strangled in her residence. Richmond had a history of violence against women reported in the case file.

Court proceedings and sentencing followed in the years after the murders.