On December 21, 2024, at about 2:38 p.m. deputies from the Rowan County Sheriff’s Office responded to reports of shots fired at 137 Hardy Lane in Woodleaf, North Carolina. They found 45-year-old Elliot Rudolph Wilds with multiple gunshot wounds. Attempts to airlift Wilds were made, but he died at the scene. Investigators processed the scene and opened a homicide investigation.

No arrests were reported on December 21. On December 23, 2024, authorities arrested 38-year-old Chadrick Dekeith Robinson of Woodleaf in connection with Wilds’ murder; Robinson was taken into custody at a Statesville motel with help from the Statesville Police Department and was being transported to Salisbury for processing. The Sheriff’s Office has offered condolences to the Wilds family and continues to investigate.

If anyone has information about Wilds, his movements that afternoon, or the area around Hardy Lane, please share what you know.