Nearly five years after a gunman opened fire outside a beloved Jacksonville, North Carolina civic center, killing a 25-year-old man and wounding a young woman, investigators say they've caught up with a second suspect — this time more than 300 miles away in Georgia. Christopher Marques Jackson was taken into custody Thursday, August 6, in Hampton, Georgia, in connection with the October 2021 killing of Dominique Rhodes outside the Sturgeon City Event Center.
According to the WCTI, Jacksonville police responded to reports of shots fired near Sturgeon City on October 24, 2021. Officers found Rhodes suffering from a gunshot wound outside the event center, and first responders provided aid, but he was pronounced dead at the scene. A second victim, Alexis Ramsay, was also injured in the shooting, police said; she was first taken to Onslow Memorial Hospital by private vehicle before being transferred to Vidant Medical Center in Greenville with serious injuries.
The killing happened at the Sturgeon City Event Center, an 11,000-square-foot facility at 50 Court Street that operates as an environmental education center by day and an event venue by night, according to Sturgeon City. The building sits on the restored grounds of what was once Jacksonville's 1940s-era municipal wastewater treatment plant, transformed after a major community push to clean up Wilson Bay. The site's civic standing has only grown since the shooting — in June 2025, Jacksonville was named an All-America City winner by the National Civic League, an honor tied in part to three decades of environmental recovery centered at Sturgeon City.
A Six-Week Manhunt Ends in Georgia
Jacksonville Police Department said its investigation led to warrants being issued for Jackson on June 26, but he remained at large for nearly six weeks. The U.S. Marshals Service ultimately took him into custody around 6:30 a.m. on August 6 in Hampton, Georgia, police said. Jackson now awaits extradition back to North Carolina to face the charges tied to Rhodes's death.
That process isn't automatic. Under Georgia's Uniform Criminal Extradition Act, an out-of-state fugitive arrested in Georgia must either sign a formal written waiver of extradition or be held while a Governor's Warrant is issued before he can be transferred to the demanding state, according to Bixon Law. Absent a waiver, the handoff requires a formal executive request between the governors of Georgia and North Carolina, a step that can add weeks to the process.
An Earlier Arrest in the Same Case
Jackson isn't the first person charged in connection with the shooting. Days after the October 2021 incident, Jacksonville police arrested Montavius Bowen and charged him with murder in Rhodes's death and assault in the shooting of Ramsay, according to a report at the time from WCTI. Bowen was denied bond during his initial court appearance on October 27, 2021. The dossier of public reporting reviewed for this story does not indicate whether Bowen's case was resolved, dismissed, or otherwise connected to the new charges against Jackson, and Jacksonville police have not addressed that relationship in materials describing Jackson's arrest.
Jacksonville police said their investigation into the case remains ongoing and continue to request information from the public. JPD Detective David Peck can be contacted directly at 910-938-6416 or [email protected].
Tips, Rewards, and a City Still Growing
Onslow County Crime Stoppers is offering rewards of up to $5,000 for information that proves valuable to the case. Tipsters can text TIP4CSJAX along with their message to 274637, or call the anonymous tip line at 910-938-3273; police ask that anyone contacting Crime Stoppers reference case number 25-00443.
The case unfolds against a backdrop of a city defined by its transience and youth. With roughly 82,000 residents, Jacksonville serves as Onslow County's commercial hub and has the lowest average resident age in the country, 22.8 years old, a distinction driven by its proximity to Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune, according to the Jacksonville Tourism Development Authority. Roughly half the city's residents live aboard Camp Lejeune and Marine Corps Air Station New River.
Countywide, gun violence has remained a persistent concern in the years surrounding the shooting. A 2025 profile from the North Carolina Department of Public Safety found Onslow County recorded 21 violent deaths in 2021 and 25 in 2022, with firearms involved in 58% of all homicides across the county between 2013 and 2022. Statewide, though, the trend has moved in the other direction — the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation reported violent crime fell 4.3% in 2024 compared to the year before, driven largely by a 9.2% drop in the state's murder rate.
