On February 4, 2023, at about 1:30 a.m., a shooting on Abes Mountain Road in Mooresboro, North Carolina, left 19-year-old Khi-Rane Devon Littlejohn dead. Deputies found 18-year-old Zaquan Amarion Hollis with two gunshot wounds to the back; Hollis was treated at Atrium Health Care and released. Littlejohn had been taken by private vehicle to Spartanburg Medical Center, where he later died.

Witnesses said an SUV fled the scene. Investigators identified 19-year-old Tylee Trequan Smith as a suspect and concluded Smith fired at both Littlejohn and Hollis during a drug transaction. Smith was arrested February 7, 2023, at the Cleveland County Courthouse and charged with murder; additional charges were anticipated and he was held without bond.

Littlejohn, born December 11, 2003, in Shelby, North Carolina, worked at Dole Food Company, enjoyed video games, hunting, and fishing, and had been active in Shoal Creek Baptist Church youth ministry. If anyone has information about the shooting or the events on Abes Mountain Road that night, please come forward.