On December 31, 1994, Deborah Hunter, 37, was shot and killed inside the Puppy Creek Family Fun Center, an arcade the family operated on Rockfish Road in rural Hoke County, North Carolina. Her husband, Jamie Hunter, 39, was also killed during the attack. Deborah reportedly shielded the couple’s 15-year-old daughter, Mary Ann, who was struck and left permanently paralyzed from the chest down.

Investigators determined the gunman, 18-year-old Rodriguez Ferguson, entered the arcade intending to rob a patron and opened fire, killing four people there: Deborah Hunter, Jamie Hunter, Tim Powell, 20, and Steve Locklear, 18. A few hours later, in the early morning of January 1, 1995, Ferguson shot and killed James Morrison, 31, outside the Zodiac Lounge on Vass Road. Ferguson was taken into custody on January 2, 1995, told a detective he had shot them all, and was charged with five counts of first-degree murder and one count of assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill inflicting serious injury. A driver, Mica Janard McDonald, later received a plea-bargained sentence for his role.

Deborah Hunter is buried in Raeford Cemetery, Hoke County.

If anyone knew Deborah, her family, or has information about the events that night, please share what you know.