Harryson Anderson should be turning 18 on Saturday. Instead, his family will spend the day at Ascend Leadership Academy in Sanford, hosting a charity basketball game and dedication ceremony to launch a foundation built in his name — one aimed at keeping other families from burying a child the way they buried him.
Anderson, a 17-year-old Fayetteville Technical Community College student, was shot and killed during a spring break house party in Fayetteville, according to CBS 17. Fayetteville police say the shooting happened around 1:27 a.m. on March 15, 2026, in the 1500 block of Graystone Drive in the city's Tiffany Pines neighborhood, according to the City of Fayetteville. Anderson's parents told CBS 17 he had spent the evening with friends getting food and going to a movie before his group stopped at a party advertised on social media.
His mother, Nina Anderson, said he was shot in the back of the neck after walking away from an altercation, per the same CBS 17 report. Fayetteville police arrested a 17-year-old suspect, Justice Miller, on March 18, 2026, charging him with first-degree murder in connection with Anderson's death — an arrest made within three days after community members submitted tips and video, according to the City of Fayetteville. ABC11 WTVD reported that Anderson had graduated from Ascend Leadership Academy and was studying cybersecurity at Fayetteville Technical Community College when he died.
A Birthday Turned Into a Cause
The Saturday event marks the first fundraiser held by the Harryson L. Anderson Foundation, which focuses on combating youth gun violence and plans to fund anti-violence outreach efforts and financial assistance for families impacted by similar tragedies. Doors open at 7:30 a.m. at Ascend Leadership Academy in Sanford, with opening remarks at 10 a.m. and games continuing until 6 p.m., the fundraiser's schedule shows. The day includes a dedication ceremony, a balloon release, and food trucks, according to the CBS 17 report.
Tickets to attend cost $10, while teams registering to play in the charity basketball tournament pay $125, with free admission for children 10 and under, according to Ascend Leadership Academy. Proceeds from the basketball game will fund an annual $2,500 scholarship for an Ascend senior. Anderson's family has said they hope the foundation will help prevent other families from experiencing the same loss and create a lasting legacy centered on education and opportunity, per CBS 17.
A City Wrestling With Youth Violence
Anderson's death fits into a troubling pattern local officials have flagged in recent months. Fayetteville's overall crime rate fell 7.2% in 2025, but homicides rose from 30 in 2024 to 37 in 2025, alongside a sharp increase in juvenile offenses, Police Chief Roberto Bryan Jr. told the Fayetteville City Council, according to CityView NC. The city responded by implementing youth curfew regulations in spring 2026 after multiple violent incidents involving teenagers, as reported by CBS 17's television affiliate.
The pattern of unsupervised house parties turning violent has repeated itself in Fayetteville since Anderson's death. In April 2026, an Airbnb house party shooting on Poplar Drive left two people injured after stray gunfire hit surrounding vehicles and homes, Hoodline previously reported on the Airbnb shooting. Investigators in Anderson's case also leaned on the Fayetteville and Cumberland County Crime Stoppers P3 Tips app, creating QR codes for party attendees to anonymously submit photos and video from the scene.
Remembering Harryson
Funeral services for Harryson LaFayette Anderson, who lived in Spring Lake, were held on March 27, 2026, managed by Herring Funeral Care & Cremations in Fayetteville. Beyond the family's own foundation, the national Uvalde Foundation has also honored Anderson through its Trees For Peace Memorial initiative, which plants memorial trees for young victims of gun violence in coordination with reforestation groups.
Saturday's fundraiser gives that memory a concrete, recurring form: a scholarship, a basketball tournament, and a birthday reimagined as a day of service. For a family that lost a college freshman with plans in cybersecurity, the goal now is turning grief into the kind of intervention that might spare another Cumberland County household the same 1 a.m. phone call.
