In a Wake County courtroom, 18-year-old Dexter Mills Jr. appeared before a judge on first-degree murder charges in the shooting death of Ericka Lucas, an educator and the wife of Wake Forest High School’s football coach. Mills, who was also found with a stolen firearm, was denied bond during his initial court appearance, CBS 17 reported.
Mills’s 16-year-old cousin has also been charged in connection with the incident happened late last month on East Nelson Avenue in Wake Forest. According to Wake Forest police, Lucas was not the intended target of the shooting, WRAL reported. Relatives of the suspects believe multiple shooters may have been involved, though police have not confirmed this.
Lucas had a three-decade career in education. Millbrook High School Assistant Principal Sebastian Shipp noted her work with students, and Jamial Black, Director of Roots of Wisdom Scholars, described her involvement with Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Incorporated, as per abc11 report.
Mills Jr., represented by a public defender, is scheduled to return to court on October 1. According to abc11, Dasia Gill, who identified herself as the suspect’s aunt, expressed the family’s distress over the situation. The investigation by Wake Forest police into the shooting, its motives, and possible additional suspects remains ongoing.
