On the night of March 13, 2024, at about 10:21 p.m., 28-year-old Dashawn Malyk Boone was shot and killed outside his residence in the 1500 block of Hexlena Road near Aulander, North Carolina. Deputies from the Bertie County Sheriff’s Office found Boone deceased in his driveway from an apparent gunshot wound. Family members described the loss as sudden and senseless; Boone’s uncle, James Leary, said he heard gunshots and saw a car speeding away but could not identify it and called Boone a good boy who avoided trouble.

The Bertie County Sheriff’s Office and the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation opened a homicide probe. Investigators identified 21-year-old Javyn A’Marion Marqyez Askew of Windsor as a suspect and arrested him on March 26, 2024; he was held without bond at the Bertie-Martin Regional Jail. Funeral services for Boone took place March 23, 2024, at Conocanary Missionary Baptist Church in Aulander, with burial in the church cemetery.

If anyone witnessed activity around Hexlena Road that night or has information about the shooting, please share tips with the authorities handling the case.