A mid-afternoon 911 call on December 12, 2025, brought Wilmington officers to a Bladen Street home where 54-year-old Ebony Boles was found with a gunshot wound. She was taken to Novant Medical Center but did not survive, and police opened a homicide investigation. Investigators said the shooting occurred about 3:30 p.m. and the person they initially sought had already left the area when officers arrived.

Detectives from the Wilmington Police Department and agents with the State Bureau of Investigation widened the search that evening and located a suspect on Castle Street around 10:30 p.m. Police identified that suspect as her husband, Michael Tyrone Loyde; officers took him into custody after he attempted to flee. Loyde was charged with murder and held without bond. At his first court appearance on December 15, a capital defender was appointed.

A funeral service for Boles was scheduled for December 29 at First Baptist Missionary Church in Wilmington. If anyone has information about the events on Bladen Street that afternoon or knew Ebony, please share what you can.