Grandparents Found Slain a Year After Boy, 6, Killed 5-Year-Old Brother — in the Same Home By Samira Asma-Sadeque

An elderly North Carolina couple were found dead in their home a year after their great-grandchild was fatally shot by the child’s brother at the same residence.

Authorities responding to a report of injuries at a Greenville, N.C. residence found Rayfield Ruffin, 73, and his wife Frances Ruffin, 67, deceased on Wednesday, Dec. 31, the Pitt County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement.

The elderly couple’s grandson, 34-year-old Martinez Corvell Ruffin, has been arrested in connection with the killings, per the statement.

The couple’s Greenville home is the same residence where their great-grandchild, 5-year-old Karter River Rosenboro, was accidentally killed by his 6-year-old brother in October 2024, local outlet WITN reported.

Following his death, Karter was remembered in a fundraiser as “a happy 5-year-old with a bright smile and loved by so many.”

It wasn’t immediately clear how Martinez was related to Karter.

Rayfield had been charged by Pitt County officials for violating storage of a firearm to protect a minor in connection with the child’s death, the sheriff’s office said at the time, according to WITN.

Rayfield was released on bond, and the status of his case at the time of his death wasn’t immediately clear. Online court records did not show further information about his case.

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Martinez has been charged with two counts of murder and two counts of assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill inflicting serious injury, the sheriff’s office said in their statement.

He is being held without bail.

It wasn’t immediately clear if he had entered pleas or retained a lawyer to speak on his behalf.