20 web pages
The Unsolved Murder of Deandre “Papa” Ricketts: A Party Turned Deadly
In the early hours of October 13, 2013, a birthday celebration in Raeford, Hoke County, North Carolina, descended into chaos when gunfire erupted, claiming the life of 16-year-old Deandre “Papa” Ricketts. The junior at Hoke County High School was among over 100 young partygoers in the 800 block of South Bethel Road when he was shot and killed—an isolated tragedy amid a crowd unscathed. More than a decade later, as of March 16, 2025, no arrests have been made, and a $20,000 reward stands as a desperate plea for answers in a case that has left a family grieving and a community grappling with silence. Listed on the Hoke County Sheriff’s Office Unsolved Cases page, Papa’s murder remains a haunting mystery—a single bullet’s devastating echo in a night of revelry.
A Night of Joy Shattered
Deandre Ricketts, affectionately known as “Papa” to everyone who knew him, was a vibrant teenager with a bright future. A junior at Hoke County High School, he was funny, driven, and deeply involved in football and his church, as his mother, Sharon Murchison, told The Fayetteville Observer in 2013. “He’s not one of those troubled kids that’s always in something,” she said, her voice breaking with grief. That Saturday night, Papa joined dozens of peers at a birthday party for 19-year-old Taylor Cummings, hosted at a cousin’s home on South Bethel Road, just southwest of Raeford and blocks from his school.
The party began with about 25 invited guests, but word spread, swelling the crowd to over 100 by the early morning hours. Andrea Cummings, Taylor’s mother, had taken precautions—using a metal detector to screen for weapons, a measure that worked at her daughter’s previous party. Yet, around 2:00 a.m., the night exploded into violence. “More than one weapon was fired,” Sheriff Hubert Peterkin told The Fayetteville Observer days later, with gunshots—later estimated from at least five firearms—ringing out across the yard. Amid the chaos, Papa, standing outside, was struck in the head, the only casualty in a barrage that miraculously spared everyone else.
A Mother’s Loss, A Scene of Sorrow
Sharon Murchison’s world collapsed when she learned her youngest son was gone. “He’ll never get to enjoy life,” she wept to reporters, surrounded by family and friends in her Raeford apartment. The Hoke County Sheriff’s Office arrived swiftly, finding Papa’s body in the yard, his blood staining the ground where he fell. Friends Alexis Locklear and Shayla Rivera, classmates at Hoke High, created a makeshift memorial the next day—bleaching the bloodstain, covering it with dirt, and spelling “PAPA” in white stones, adorned with LED lights and wildflowers. The school held a memorial service that Monday, students donning red and black in his honor, some even planning to vote him homecoming prince posthumously.
The investigation launched with urgency but hit immediate roadblocks. Over 100 attendees—many teenagers—witnessed the shooting, yet few spoke. “People change their story,” Sheriff Peterkin lamented to ABC11 in 2014, noting that both kids and adults were uncooperative, some parents even urging silence. Physical evidence was sent to the SBI Laboratory, with a focus on a full-size pickup truck of unknown color linked to the suspect, but it led nowhere. “He caught a bullet,” Peterkin told Spectrum News in 2019, suggesting Papa wasn’t the target—just a tragic bystander in a crossfire whose motive remains unknown.
A Family’s Fight, A Sheriff’s Resolve
Sharon Murchison’s grief fueled her resolve. “Put yourself in my shoes,” she pleaded in 2017 to The News-Journal. “If it were your child, would you want someone to walk around every day knowing they killed your child and not come forward?” The Sheriff’s Office, under Peterkin until his death in 2022, and now led by Roderick Virgil, has never let the case fade. In 2014, Peterkin offered a $20,000 reward—a bounty still active today—warning accessories to the crime they’d face charges. “They know right from wrong,” he said of the silent witnesses.
By 2017, new leads emerged, with deputies “that close” to a break, Peterkin told The News-Journal, holding his fingers an inch apart. The Unsolved Homicides Division, established in 2023, continues the effort, re-interviewing witnesses and chasing tips. “Someone out there does know something,” Detective A. Gooselin reiterated in a 2024 WRAL appeal, urging calls to 910-875-5111 or the anonymous tip line at 910-878-1100. Yet, the wall of silence holds firm, a barrier as stubborn as the years that have passed.
Theories in the Chaos
Theories swirl around Papa’s death. Was it a gang dispute, a personal grudge spilling over, or a random eruption at a party too big to control? The multiple guns suggest a clash—perhaps between rival groups—yet Papa’s clean reputation casts doubt on him as a target. “The investigation shows he was just standing out in the yard when the shots started firing,” Peterkin said in 2019, leaning toward a tragic accident in a volatile crowd. The pickup truck, a fleeting clue, hints at an outsider’s escape, but its color and owner remain a blank.
The sheer number of witnesses—over 100—makes the silence deafening. Fear, loyalty, or distrust of law enforcement may seal lips, a common thread in Hoke County’s unsolved cases, like Brittany Locklear’s 1998 murder. For Papa, the truth lies buried in that chaotic night, waiting for one voice to break free.
A Legacy Unfinished
Deandre “Papa” Ricketts’ murder is a stark chapter in North Carolina’s true crime narrative—a teenager’s life stolen amid celebration, his killer shielded by a crowd’s quiet. South Bethel Road, once a party scene, now whispers of loss, its memorial stones long faded. For Sharon and the Ricketts-Murchison family, each October 13 is a wound reopened, a birthday party turned funeral. “Let’s help bring justice,” Sheriff Virgil urged in 2024, a call that echoes through Hoke County’s fields and halls.
As of March 16, 2025, the $20,000 reward stands, the case active but cold—a marathon, not a sprint, as the Sheriff’s Office vows. For true crime readers, it’s a puzzle of presence and absence: so many saw, yet none tell. Who fired that fatal shot, and why? Until someone speaks—or evidence resurfaces—Papa’s story lingers, a plea for closure in a night that refuses to end.