Kennis Quanmell Robinson, 29, was found dead from apparent gunshot wounds on Geneva Street in Laurinburg, North Carolina, on June 27, 2021 at about 8:35 p.m. Officers who responded to reports of a shooting discovered him lying in the roadway; the death was immediately treated as a homicide and investigated by local authorities.

Two arrests followed within days. Teon Trevareus Thomas, 24, was arrested June 29, 2021 by the U.S. Marshals, ATF and the Laurinburg Police Department and charged with First Degree Murder, Possession of a Firearm by a Felon, two counts of Assault with a Deadly Weapon, Going Armed to the Terror of People, Discharge of a Firearm in City Limits, and Injury to Personal Property; he was held in the Scotland County Detention Center without bond. Cedric Darrell Staggers, 35, was arrested June 28, 2021 and charged with accessory after the fact; he was held on a $750,000 secured bond.

Investigators reported that the shooting occurred amid broader violence in the area and said their case relied on eyewitness accounts, forensic evidence and the suspects’ criminal histories. What details about motive or sequence of events are still missing in this case that could help explain why Robinson was targeted?