Sixteen-year-old Khamari Harrison, a Douglas Byrd High School student, was shot and killed in the early morning of April 25, 2026, on Fox Ridge Drive in Hope Mills, North Carolina. She had gone to meet someone after arranging to buy psilocybin mushrooms over Instagram and, while approaching the seller’s vehicle with a 15-year-old male friend, was struck by multiple gunshots to the arm and chest. She was taken to Cape Fear Valley Medical Center and later died of her injuries.

Hope Mills police identified 20-year-old Julius Clem Smith as the primary suspect. Smith, a convicted felon, allegedly arranged the sale on Instagram; surveillance footage reportedly showed him near a gas station after the shooting. His vehicle was found with a bullet hole and shell casings, and psilocybin mushrooms were recovered at his home. Within a week he was arrested and charged with first-degree murder, possession of a firearm by a felon, and possession of a Schedule I controlled substance and held without bond at the Cumberland County Detention Center.

Two others were arrested in connection to the case.

What did readers in Hope Mills notice about activity on Fox Ridge Drive or social-media arrangements for drug buys that night?