UPS driver fatally shot in Raleigh was a family man with young son, big dreams
For the past two years, Dylan Wall drove a UPS truck, bouncing around Raleigh dropping packages and dodging family dogs.
An affable man with a red beard and a big smile, he loved playing xBox and Nintendo Switch more than most young men cooped up by a pandemic.
But at 23, Wall had bigger plans. He had a new wife, Jocelyn, and a 5-year-old boy, Aiden, whose plastic castle in their Knightdale yard shows the signs of a committed family man. They had a life in the works.
“He was on the right track,” said his father, Phillip, from the porch of the home where they lived. “He was good with money. He was doing things for himself. He was very much in love with his wife. I was going to sell them this house.”
On Wednesday afternoon, Wall was fatally shot while on his route on South East Street near downtown Raleigh. A GoFundMe page for the family had already raised more than $14,000 Thursday.
Suspect charged with murder
Police charged Stephen Joseph Bynem, 30, with murder. He lives near the shooting scene, court records show, and had his first court appearance Thursday afternoon. Prosecutors have not decided whether they will seek the death penalty, but a District Court judge appointed a capital public defender.
During the courtroom hearing, a woman whose face appeared red from crying lunged toward Bynem from the gallery. She identified herself as Wall’s mother and got out of her seat.
Bailiffs held her back and took her out of the courtroom.
“I just wanna get my hands on him,” she said after she left the courtroom, and then apologized to the bailiffs and the people she came with.
No motive has been disclosed in the case, and Wall’s father said he has no idea what happened. Bynem has prior arrests on charges of carrying a concealed weapon and violating probation, court records show, but not since 2009.
The East Street house that court records list as Bynem’s address appeared empty and in need of repair. No one answered the door Thursday. Neighbors said the UPS driver was delivering a package next door when he was shot in the mid-afternoon.
UPS released this statement: “We are heartbroken by the loss of our colleague, and offer our deepest condolences to his family and friends.”
Wall graduated from Garner High School in 2015. His friend Spencer Brockhouse called him “a brother. The only thing that separates us is we didn’t share blood.”
‘He always talked about big plans’
The two would sometimes skip class and joke around for days, he recalled. But that changed quickly when Wall had a son.
“I know so many people at our age who aren’t as involved as parents,” Brockhouse said. “He always talked about big plans. I sell cars, and he would reach out to me and say, ‘Hey, would you want to manage a used car lot?’ I always admired that about him because, back in high school, we didn’t know what we wanted to do with our lives.”
His Facebook page shows a long list of congratulations upon his marriage in March. “Talk about stepping up my game with the most beautiful girl in the world right?” Wall asks his followers.
The page shows pictures of Aiden with a Dr. Seuss book open on the sofa, munching on a snack.
On Thursday morning, the news less than 24 hours old, Aiden pressed his fingers and nose against the window as Phillip Wall, his grandfather, struggled to describe the end of a short and promising life.
Staff writer Adam Wagner contributed to this report.
This story was originally published February 11, 2021 at 11:42 AM.