A large party on South Talbert Boulevard in Lexington turned deadly early Saturday when an altercation ended in gunfire, leaving a 44-year-old Salisbury man dead and sending the suspect to a Durham hospital with a gunshot wound of his own. Davonte Martese Kind, 25, of Thomasville, is now charged with first-degree murder and robbery with a dangerous weapon in the killing of Robert Jermaine Thomas.
According to WXLV, Lexington police officers were dispatched to the 1000 block of South Talbert Boulevard after a shooting call came in at 1:23 a.m. Saturday. The Salisbury Post likewise reported dispatch at 1:23 a.m., while the-dispatch.com put the call at about 1:20 a.m. — a minor discrepancy in the record of a fast-moving overnight scene.
Officers arriving at the address found Thomas suffering from injuries consistent with gunshot wounds and provided emergency medical aid before he was taken to Lexington Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead, per the Salisbury Post's account. Police identified him as Robert Jermaine Thomas, 44, of Salisbury.
Party Turns Violent, Suspect Flees in Victim's Car
Investigators determined that a large party was underway at the location when an altercation broke out and led directly to the shooting, according to the Salisbury Post. In the chaos that followed, Kind reportedly left the scene driving Thomas's own vehicle, which investigators later recovered in Thomasville, the paper reported.
Kind did not get far without consequences of his own. He had been shot during the incident and was taken by private vehicle to Duke University Hospital in Durham for treatment, the station's report notes. Hospital staff evaluated and medically cleared him before he was taken into custody at the hospital at 12:45 p.m. Saturday.
Investigation Spans Two Cities
Lexington police detectives processed multiple scenes across both Lexington and Thomasville as they pieced together what happened, and investigators are still working to determine whether anyone else was involved in the altercation that preceded the shooting, per the same account. The agency says the investigation remains ongoing as evidence continues to be gathered and processed.
Bond and court information were not immediately available, the station's report states — a gap that leaves unanswered how Kind's case will proceed through the courts in the days ahead. North Carolina law classifies a killing committed during certain felonies as first-degree murder, a Class A felony, under G.S. 14-17, while the robbery charge falls under the state's statute covering robbery with firearms or other dangerous weapons, G.S. 14-87.
The Lexington Police Department thanked the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation, Thomasville Police Department, Davidson County Sheriff's Office, Davidson County District Attorney's Office, Duke University Hospital and Durham Police Department for their assistance in the case. Anyone with information is asked to contact the Lexington Police Department at 336-243-3302 or Lexington Crimestoppers anonymously at 336-243-2400.
