A Whiteville man will spend up to 25 years in prison for gunning down his former girlfriend at her apartment complex last year, capping a case that began with a frantic search for a mother who never showed up to collect her kids from school. Anthony Sumpter, 53, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder Monday in Columbus County Superior Court for the killing of Terri Lashay Thompson, who was found shot to death on April 15, 2025, inside her home at Covey Run Apartments.
Thompson had failed to pick up her children from school that day, according to Columbus County News, a detail that set off the chain of events leading police to her apartment, where they discovered her body. Sumpter and Thompson had previously been in a relationship, per the same account. Chief Resident Superior Court Judge C. Ashley Gore handed down the maximum sentence allowed by law under the plea deal, ordering Sumpter to serve between 240 and 300 months, or 20 to 25 years, in prison.
Under North Carolina's structured sentencing framework, second-degree murder is a Class B1 felony that can carry a presumptive minimum active term starting at 192 months and stretching to life imprisonment, depending on a defendant's prior record, according to the North Carolina General Assembly. State law separately allows for a rebuttable presumption of first-degree murder — a Class A felony carrying life without parole — in cases involving a former intimate partner where the offender has prior domestic violence convictions or protective order violations against that same victim, though no such history was cited in Sumpter's case.
A Two-Day Manhunt Across State Lines
Sumpter was arrested two days after the killing in Loris, South Carolina, according to Affordable Housing Online. Covey Run Apartments is a 48-unit affordable housing community at 117 Covey Quail Lane. The Horry County Police Department reported in an April 2025 release that its officers joined Whiteville Police to execute a search warrant and take Sumpter into custody, booking him into the J. Reuben Long Detention Center in Conway on a fugitive warrant before he was extradited back to Columbus County.
The Whiteville Police Department also drew on help from the Columbus County Sheriff's Office, the N.C. State Bureau of Investigation, and the state Alcohol Law Enforcement Division during the investigation, per Columbus County News. Police Chief Paul Rockenbach, who had only taken office roughly six weeks before Thompson's death, thanked community members who provided vital information that helped crack the case. Rockenbach came into the role as a U.S. Marine Corps veteran and former lead homicide investigator for the Columbus County Sheriff's Office, according to Columbus County News.
A Violent Stretch for Whiteville Police
Thompson's killing came during an intense run of violence for the small department. Columbus County News reported two separate murder arrests within 48 hours that April: Sumpter was caught in South Carolina, while Columbus County deputies arrested Kapri Oman McMillian in connection with the fatal shooting of Jauize Lamar Cribbs.
Sumpter was represented in court by public defender Jason David Minnicozzi, who has worked for the Columbus County District Attorney's Office and public defender offices, according to WHQR. Assistant District Attorney Courtney Sanford represented the State during the plea and sentencing hearing. Sanford has prosecuted multiple high-profile murder cases in the county, including securing a first-degree murder conviction against Daquon Rollo Carrothers back in October 2022.
The Judge Who Handed Down the Sentence
Judge Gore, who presided over Sumpter's case, was appointed senior resident judge in August 2023, according to the Bladen Journal. She serves as senior resident superior court judge for Judicial District 13A, which serves Bladen and Columbus counties in North Carolina.
Sumpter's sentence is reported without a comparison to another recent Columbus County case. The specific motive behind Thompson's killing, along with any history of prior domestic violence calls or protective orders between her and Sumpter, has not been detailed in court filings or public statements.
