Laron Carter sentenced to life in prison for Monkey Junction murder

NEW HANOVER COUNTY, NC (WWAY) — One of the suspects in a 2020 murder in Monkey Junction has seen sentenced for his role in the crime.

25-year-old Laron Lee Carter has been sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole for the murder of 17-year-old Gavin Dozier in November of 2020. He has also been sentenced to 4 to 6 years in prison for Robbery With a Dangerous Weapon.

On Thursday, a jury found Carter guilty of First Degree Murder and Robbery With a Dangerous Weapon. The trial lasted just over a week.

Carter is one of several people that were arrested in the 2020 deadly shooting. Thomas Dean Duran was charged with first-degree murder in connection to the shooting, and Taytum Krysteene Herrick, 18, and Hailey Danielle Berardi, 19, were also charged with Accessory after the Fact.

Gavin Dozier was fatally shot on November 12, 2020 at the Walmart in Monkey Junction.