Demetrius Gibbs, a 29-year-old Black man known to friends and family by nicknames like Meech and Boots, was remembered as a laid-back, cool, and family-oriented person who worked as a fashion model. His life was cut short on the night of March 6, 2022, in a double homicide in Northwest, North Carolina.
That evening, Gibbs and another man, 22-year-old Desmond Malik Radford-Lee, were shot and killed at Crystal Springs Cemetery. The shooting was believed to have occurred around 8:30 p.m. More than two hours later, at 10:42 p.m., family members who went to the cemetery discovered the men's bodies and called the police. When law enforcement arrived, both Gibbs and Radford-Lee were deceased. Autopsy reports later revealed the brutal nature of the attack: Gibbs had suffered 15 gunshot wounds to his head, neck, torso, and extremities, while Radford-Lee had been shot 10 times in his head, torso, and extremities.
The cause of death for both men was determined to be multiple gunshot wounds.
The Northwest Police Department, with assistance from the State Bureau of Investigation and the Brunswick County Sheriff’s Office, launched a homicide investigation. Investigators believed that multiple shooters were involved in the killings. As the investigation progressed, the city of Northwest offered a $5,000 reward for information that would lead to an arrest.
More than a month after the shooting, authorities announced a breakthrough. On April 22, 2022, investigators arrested two suspects in separate cities. Christopher Owen Brooks, a 20-year-old from Leland, was taken into custody in Greensboro. That same day, a 17-year-old male was arrested in Charlotte. Both were initially charged with two counts of first-degree murder and one count of firing into an occupied vehicle inflicting serious injury. Scott Perez, the interim police chief at the time, expressed relief that suspects were in custody, acknowledging the heavy burden the case had placed on the community and the victims' families.
The case against Christopher Owen Brooks moved toward trial. His trial was scheduled to begin in late May 2024 in Brunswick County Superior Criminal Court on charges of two counts of first-degree murder, discharging a weapon into an occupied property, and robbery with a dangerous weapon. As of May 2024, the case was proceeding through the court system.
