On the evening of August 4, 2024, at about 9:41 p.m., deputies from the Hoke County Sheriff’s Office answered a reported shooting at the intersection of Huckabee Street and Phillipi Church Road in Raeford, North Carolina. Responding officers found 44-year-old Christopher M. Purcell with a gunshot wound; he was taken to a local hospital and later pronounced dead.

By August 5, authorities had identified 47-year-old Cornelius DeShone McDuffie as the primary suspect. Warrants charging McDuffie with First-Degree Murder, Shooting into an Occupied Vehicle, and Possession of a Firearm by a Felon were issued; he was arrested without incident and held at the Hoke County Detention Center. Detectives from Hoke County, the Special Operations Unit, and the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation are handling the ongoing inquiry.

Purcell is survived by his children La'Dezia and Kadence; his parents Anthony Bernard and Karen Graham Purcell; brothers Keith and Justin Purcell; two grandchildren; and other family. A Celebration of Life was held August 16, 2024, with a committal service at the Graham Family Cemetery. Anyone with information is asked to contact Detective Gore at the Hoke County Sheriff’s Office at (910) 875-5111.

Did anyone in Raeford see activity near Huckabee Street and Phillipi Church Road that night or have information that could help investigators?