Seven months after gunfire tore through a home near Chadbourn and killed 16-year-old Autumn Spivey as she slept, two men have been arrested and charged with first-degree murder. Armani Darrell Mason, 27, and Tony Larrell Mason, 20, were taken into custody just before midnight on Thursday and are being held without bond in the Columbus County Jail.
Spivey was shot in her bed at 2013 Stake Road in the China Grove community, according to Columbus County News. She was pronounced dead at the scene despite two deputies arriving within minutes of the drive-by shooting and performing CPR in an effort to save her. Four other people were present in the home when the shooting occurred, and the Columbus County Sheriff's Office has said Spivey was not the intended target.
Spivey, a student at West Columbus High School, had been staying at the home with relatives for an extended period, according to an obituary posted by Worthington Funeral Home. She was killed during the early morning hours of Thursday, January 22, when gunfire sprayed into the residence, according to the funeral home's account of her death.
A Case Stalled by Silence
In the weeks after the shooting, Sheriff Bill Rogers said investigators were stymied by a lack of cooperation in the case, per Columbus County News. That silence weighed heavily on Spivey's family as the months dragged on. In July, the family disclosed that investigators had told them within days of the shooting that they were examining a social media dispute and online threat exchange involving one of the home's occupants, according to the Columbus County Ledger.
Frustrated by the lack of an arrest nearly six months after the shooting, Spivey's family announced a $5,000 private reward in July for information leading to an arrest and conviction, as reported by Wilmington News Today. The reward came even as Spivey's case remained, as of April, one of two high-profile unsolved homicides in Columbus County that had not received matching reward funding from the North Carolina Governor's Office, according to Columbus County News.
State Investigators Joined the Probe
The North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation assisted the Columbus County Sheriff's Office in analyzing physical evidence and pursuing leads throughout the seven-month investigation, per Columbus County News. Public booking records reviewed by RecentlyBooked.com confirm that Tony Larrell Mason was formally processed into the Columbus County Jail on Thursday.
Armani Darrell Mason and Tony Larrell Mason are both charged with first-degree murder in Spivey's death and are due in court for a first appearance later Friday. Under North Carolina law, first-degree murder is a Class A felony carrying a mandatory sentence of life imprisonment without parole or the death penalty upon conviction, according to the UNC School of Government. It remains unclear whether prosecutors will also pursue charges tied to discharging a firearm into an occupied dwelling, which state law classifies as a Class D felony that escalates to a Class C felony if it results in serious bodily injury or death.
Part of a Painful Pattern in Rural Columbus County
Spivey's death occurred in the same rural municipality where 7-year-old Antonio Jamal Maultsby Jr. was fatally shot in a separate, still-unsolved drive-by shooting in March 2024, according to Columbus County News. The two cases have fueled concern among residents about a broader pattern of deadly drive-by shootings striking bystanders inside or near their own homes.
Both Armani Darrell Mason and Tony Larrell Mason retain the presumption of innocence as the case moves through the courts. Key questions remain unanswered heading into Friday's court appearance, including whether investigators have identified a specific shooter versus an accomplice and what evidence ultimately broke the case open after seven months of investigation, per Columbus County News. This is a developing story.
