On March 18, 2023, at about 1:40 p.m., officers found 16-year-old Jayden Quanran Romel Ellis unresponsive near 500 Marcella Drive in Kinston, North Carolina. He had died of a gunshot wound. Ellis was a student at Kinston High School.

Investigators connected Ellis’s death to a string of property crimes. A vehicle was reported stolen on March 17 from 701 W. Vernon Avenue; the car was later recovered missing a firearm, change, and a cell phone. A separate breaking-and-entering at an unoccupied Hyman Avenue residence resulted in clothing and shoes being taken. Surveillance footage and community tips tied suspects in those thefts to Ellis’s killing.

On March 23, Kinston police arrested a 17-year-old male and charged him with murder, larceny of a motor vehicle, felony breaking and entering, and felony possession of stolen property. A second 17-year-old was arrested on April 4 on similar charges. Also on April 4, 41-year-old Lanesha Lawrence was arrested and charged with accessory after the fact to murder and obstruction of justice. Both juveniles were held in a juvenile detention facility pending court proceedings.

If anyone has information about Jayden, the vehicle theft, or the Hyman Avenue break-in, please share what is known.