On the morning of November 23, 2025, deputies responded to a home at 8810 Boylston Road in Colfax after a report of gunfire around 7:49 a.m. They found 47-year-old Derrick Lamont Leach dead from an apparent gunshot wound, and the death prompted a homicide investigation. Prosecutors say three witnesses saw the shooting inside the residence; after the gunfire the suspect allegedly took the witnesses’ cell phones, demanded a vehicle key at gunpoint, and then fled in a 2004 Toyota Celica that was later found at a nearby gas station.

Investigators quickly identified 27-year-old Jose Cristian Bravo-Martinez as the suspected shooter. Deputies located and attempted a traffic stop about 10:15 a.m., a brief pursuit followed, and Bravo-Martinez was taken into custody. He is facing felony first-degree murder, felony possession of a stolen vehicle, two counts of felony robbery with a deadly weapon, felony fleeing to elude arrest, and multiple misdemeanor traffic offenses. Officials say no detailed motive or precise relationship between Leach and the accused has been disclosed, and they have stated there is no ongoing threat to the wider community.

Leach’s death has had a strong impact on Greensboro and Colfax; friends and family remember him as kind, loyal, generous, and a steady presence whose home was a gathering place for neighbors. Anyone with information is asked to contact detectives or submit anonymous tips to Crime Stoppers.