A 32-year-old Greenville man will spend up to nearly three years in prison after pleading guilty to involuntary manslaughter in the shooting death of an active-duty Marine sergeant inside a downtown Raleigh parking garage nearly two years ago. Spencer Wrightington was initially charged with second-degree murder after Sgt. Christian Oldham was fatally shot in the head while the two men were passing Oldham's handgun back and forth inside Oldham's car, believing it was unloaded.
Wake County Superior Court Resident Judge Keith Gregory sentenced Wrightington to a minimum of one year and eight months and a maximum of two years and nine months in prison, according to The News & Observer. The sentence falls in the aggravated range for someone with Wrightington's criminal record, the outlet reported. Judge Gregory, appointed to the Superior Court bench in 2018 after eight years as a Wake County District Court judge and 15 years as a trial attorney, presides over Judicial District 10D in Wake County, according to INDY Week.
What Happened Inside the Garage
Raleigh Police Department officers responding to a reported shooting at approximately 6:22 a.m. on October 12, 2024, found Oldham on the second level of the parking garage in the 400 block of South Salisbury Street, according to a bulletin from the City of Raleigh. Wrightington told investigators that he and Oldham had been drinking at a party beforehand, per the News & Observer's report. A detective wrote in a search warrant that Wrightington said Oldham racked the firearm's slide and he then heard a pop, the paper's account states.
Investigators believed Wrightington was holding the firearm when it went off, though he repeatedly stated, per the search warrant, that the shooting was an accident. Wrightington called 911 after the shooting and was arrested at the scene. He later spent 111 days in jail without bail before a judge approved his attorney's motion to set a bail amount in January 2025, and Wrightington posted a $150,000 secured bail bond that same month.
An Inconclusive Manner of Death
The medical examiner ruled Oldham's manner of death as inconclusive, and an autopsy report found it was unclear whether he was accidentally or intentionally shot. The autopsy also found Oldham's blood alcohol concentration was 0.22 — nearly three times the legal driving limit, according to the News & Observer. Under North Carolina General Statutes § 14-269.3, state law bars carrying a handgun while consuming alcohol or while alcohol remains in the body, according to a summary from Carolina Attorneys.
Because the manner of death could not be definitively classified as either accidental or a homicide, prosecutors ultimately moved from the original second-degree murder charge to involuntary manslaughter, a Class F felony under North Carolina General Statutes § 14-18. That charge carries a structured sentencing range of 10 to 41 months depending on prior record and aggravating or mitigating factors, according to a legal explainer from The Wilkie Law Group. Statewide, 29 unintentional firearm deaths occurred in North Carolina in 2023, representing 1.1% of all violent deaths that year, according to data from the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services.
Conditions After Release
As part of the plea arrangement, Wrightington must obtain a substance abuse assessment after his release and comply with any recommended treatment. He is also required to attend Alcoholics Anonymous meetings three times a week, with his attendance verified by a sponsor, the News & Observer reported.
Remembering a Marine Sergeant
Oldham, a Durham native who grew up in Hillsborough, North Carolina, graduated from Cedar Ridge High School with an International Baccalaureate diploma and studied criminal justice at the University of North Carolina Wilmington before enlisting in the Marine Corps in 2016, according to his obituary posted by Clements Funeral Home. He served as an Infantry Assaultman in the 3rd Battalion, 2nd Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division, and was stationed at Camp Lejeune in Jacksonville. Oldham had recently returned from a deployment and was set to become a combat instructor, and the News & Observer described him as a sergeant known for protecting the men under his care.
Oldham was interred with full military honors at Maplewood Cemetery in Durham on October 27, 2024, following a service at Clements Funeral Chapel, with active-duty Marines from Camp Lejeune in attendance to honor his service.
A Downtown Corridor Under Scrutiny
The garage sits along a stretch of South Salisbury Street that has seen repeated violent incidents in the years since, including a stabbing near 111 South Salisbury Street and an officer injured during a midnight drug arrest, both reported by Hoodline. The Raleigh Police Department, which arrested Wrightington at the scene within hours of the shooting, closed 100% of its homicide cases in 2024 compared with a national clearance average of roughly 52%, according to data reported by Axios.
