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A man wanted in connection with homicides in Halifax and Columbus counties was arrested near Raleigh Saturday morning, the Wake County Sheriff’s Office announced.
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Eric Lamont Martin Jr., 18, is facing charges for two June shootings — one that killed two people in Roanoke Rapids, and another that killed one person in Columbus County, the Sheriff’s Office said.
Court records show Martin, of Fayetteville, was charged with murder for a June 11 offense in Columbus County and another murder charge in Halifax County where the victim was a juvenile.
The Roanoke Rapids Police Department said they were searching for Martin in connection with the deaths of two teenagers: Patrick Shane Faircloth, 19, and Mariah Thompson, 15, CBS17 reported. Police said in their news release that they considered Martin “armed and dangerous.”
As of Saturday morning, court records only show one murder charge against Martin.
Mariah Thompson’s former teacher, Susan Baldwin, of Whiteville, started a GoFundMe to help the Thompson family pay for funeral costs. It has raised almost $1,500 as of Saturday morning. Baldwin wrote that losing Thompson “has deeply affected the school community.”
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“ I can still hear her voice saying, ‘But Ms. Baldwin,’ and then smiling,” Baldwin wrote. “My teacher and mama heart aches for my students who are missing Mariah right now.”
Deputies received information in the early hours of Saturday morning that Martin was at a home on Anthony Drive, the Sheriff’s Office said. The street is near Lake Wheeler and roughly 8 miles south of downtown Raleigh.
In a Saturday statement, Wake Sheriff Willie Rowe thanked the Sheriff’s Office, patrol deputies, the K-9 unit, drones, the Criminal lnvestigation Division, the N.C. Department of Adult Correction and the U.S. Marshals Service for their roles in Martin’s arrest.
“We thank the community for being vigilant to help bring a measure of peace to the victims’ loved ones,” Rowe said.
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