15-Year-Old Charged with Killing Aunt, Uncle and Uncle's Mother By Charna Flam

A 15-year-old boy was arrested for first-degree murder after he allegedly fatally shot his aunt, uncle and his uncle’s mother inside their Lillington, N.C. home on Tuesday, Aug. 12.

The suspect allegedly shot Danny Richards, 57; his wife, Sabrina Richards, 54; and Danny’s mother, Clara Richards, 74. The suspect was charged with two counts of first-degree murder, one count of attempted murder and one count of assault with a deadly weapon, per WRAL.

The family was celebrating Sabrina’s 54th birthday when the teen allegedly shot at the three adults. Then at 5:18 p.m., authorities received a call from Danny and Sabrina’s 10-year-old nephew.

Upon arrival, they discovered that Danny and Sabrina had died of their gunshot wounds. Clara, who was shot in the abdomen, was found alive and critically injured. She was then transported to Womack Army Medical Center, where she died hours later. 

The 10-year-old nephew was found unharmed inside the Richards’ home. Meanwhile, the family’s truck and the couple’s 15-year-old nephew were both reported missing. 

Authorities then led a search to locate Cunningham, and around 8 p.m., the truck was discovered near NC Highway 87 and Nursery Road. Around three hours later, authorities found the suspect in the woods and took him into custody, per The Daily Record.

The suspect’s charges on one count of attempted murder and one count of assault with a deadly weapon were expected to be updated to a third first-degree murder charge on Wednesday after Clara’s death, Maj. Aaron Meredith of the Harnett County Sheriff’s Office told The Daily Record.

Danny and Sabrina were both U.S. Army veterans. He was a retired command sergeant major, and she was a retired staff sergeant. Since leaving the Army, Danny was a senior pastor at Genesis Grace Ministry in Fayetteville.

One of the couple’s friends, Emery Carter, told WRAL that the pair took in Cunningham to “give him a better life,” adding, “He was trying to give him a better place to stay and instill wisdom and discipline in him… So, it’s very tragic that this happened.”

Carter, who met Danny at Fort Bragg and advanced through the army ranks together, said the couple were well respected in the army community as well as their Fayetteville community.

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“Amazing is a small smidgen of what describes who they are,” Carter said. “Loving people, loving of others, love each other, but they also love their community.”

“He literally takes clothes out of his home to give to the homeless,” Carter said. “He literally takes food out of his house to give to the homeless.”

“He’s a very, very nice guy, and it’s a sad situation that him and his family,” Donald Greaux, a neighbor, told WRAL. “He loves his family, for whatever the situation was.”

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Another former Army colleague told ABC11 they were “the definition of selfless service.”

A representative for the Harnett County Sheriff’s Office did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for more information on Wednesday.