#UNSOLVED: Murder victim’s family thinks social media played a role

WILMINGTON, NC (WWAY) — Last summer, a shooting in Wilmington left one man dead and police with few answers.

No one has been charged in the death of Darrell Atkinson, 47.

While police are still looking for answers in his unsolved murder, his family has done some of their own searching leading them to one idea they just cannot believe.

“He loved to ride his bike up and down this street,” Audrey Bridges said.

Audrey Bridges always knew when her son was coming to see her.

“He had this little boom box on his bike,” Bridges said. “You could hear the music and I knew it was him.”

Audrica Atkinson said that is how everyone knew her brother Darrell.

“If you be like, ‘do you know Darrell?’ They be like, ‘you talking about the one with the bike that ride with the loud music.’ Everyone knew him for that,'” Audrica said.

That is all just a memory now.

“I got a phone call from Veronica which was Darrell’s girlfriend,” Audrica said. “She just called me screaming and crying and she was just like ‘Darrell been shot. Darrell been shot.'”

On June, 5th 2018, Wilmington police responded to a ShotSpotter alert around 7:30 p.m.
“ten shots were fired,” Lt. Kelvin Hargrove said.

Lt. Kelvin Hargrove said Darrell Atkinson, 47, was shot on his front porch in the 700 block of North 11th Street.

“Mr. Atkinson had just returned home with his family and they just made it inside their home just prior to the shots being fired.”

Audrica said Darrell’s girlfriend tried to do CPR, but he did not make it.

“I took it really hard cause that was my best friend,” Audrica said. “We were very very very close. We are a year apart. I just couldn’t believe it. Still to this day, I don’t believe it.”

Police are still looking for a suspect, but Audrica said the family has their own theory, because of something that happened a few months before.

“Someone robbed him. Took his phone. Took his glasses, his music box,” Bridges said.

Then, Bridges says a few days before the shooting happened.

“Darrell got on the Facebook.”

She said Darrell made a comment about the person who robbed him on Facebook.

“I heard that he said something about ‘Yeah. You rob me and now you’re dead, because you robbed somebody else and they killed you.’ Then I heard it was a retaliation of the guy’s friends,” Bridges said.

“He had nothing to do with the other boy’s murder,” Audrica said. “He has no connection to that. That guy robbed him. It happened months ago. He made a comment on Facebook and he got murdered.”

Audrica said after her brother’s death, someone posted something alarming on her Facebook page.

“And it said, ‘they took my brother, so now we took yours.’ She posted that on my page and then I guess she deleted it right after,” Audrica said.

She said that is not all.

“On his Facebook page, they’ll go on there and put laughing emoji’s or they will say stuff like ‘that’s what he get.’ They said all type of evil things and who does that? This happened an hour after he was killed. That’s why it makes me feel like he had something to do with it,” Audrica said.

No one has been charged and Wilmington Police say they do not know much about the suspect or if it was gang-related.

“We believe that the perpetrators were on foot,” Hargrove said. “When they left, they possibly left in an unknown vehicle.”

Hargrove said the sun was still out when the shooting happened.

“Somebody had to see something and we need anyone with any information whether its small or how small it is, it doesn’t matter, but we need information to bring closure to this family,” Hargrove said.

Lt. Hargrove said they have no record of Atkinson being robbed, because he did not report it. If you have any information, please contact Wilmington Police.