Church deacon shot to death in Johnston County, Sheriff’s Office says
A 66-year-old Johnston County church deacon died of a gunshot wound Sunday. Sheriff’s deputies have charged his 50-year-old roommate with murder.
Deputies arrived at a house at 7529 Buffalo Road shortly before 7 p.m. and discovered Vondell Bethune dead inside, Lt. Don Pate said in a news release.
Alvin Demetrius Harris of the same address turned himself in, the release said.
Bethune was a deacon at White Oak Hill Missionary Baptist Church in Johnston County, multiple media outlets reports.
Bethune’s family told ABC11, The News & Observer’s media partner, that Bethune had asked Harris to move out and the two began arguing when the shooting occurred.
The Sheriff’s Office is not releasing a possible motive while it investigates the death, Pate said by email, adding this was the first call to the house in “the past few years.”
The shooting is the third homicide the Sheriff’s Office has investigated this year.
This story was originally published August 12, 2019 at 10:32 AM.