Rodney James Hardy, 58, was found shot and pronounced dead inside his Queen Street home in Simpson, North Carolina at about 1:40 a.m. on Thursday, September 11, 2025. Deputies with the Pitt County Sheriff’s Office classified the matter as a homicide and said detectives were conducting an active investigation; authorities released few specifics about what occurred inside the residence.

Local reporting and an obituary from Rountree Family Mortuary confirmed Hardy’s identity and that he lived at the house where he was killed. Later in September the Sheriff’s Office and Crime Stoppers publicly appealed for tips, and no arrests or suspects had been publicly identified as of those notices. Remembrances and a celebration of life were held in the days afterward.

If anyone witnessed activity near Queen Street in Simpson around the early morning hours of September 11 or has information that could help investigators, please come forward.