On the evening of Saturday, October 30, 2021, Jonathan Lowery Jr., a 32-year-old man from Maxton, North Carolina, was killed in a double homicide. Around 7:30 p.m., police in Fairmont, NC, responded to a report of a possible shooting in the 900 block of Leesville Road. When they arrived, they discovered two men who had died from gunshot wounds. Jonathan was found alongside 23-year-old Caleb Ryan Hunt of Lumberton.
One of the men was inside a vehicle, and the other was outside of it.
The Fairmont Police Department, with assistance from the Robeson County Sheriff’s Office and other state and federal agencies, launched an investigation. More than a year later, on February 17, 2022, authorities made their first arrest. Semaj Cortez Lin Bethea, a 19-year-old from Fairmont, was taken into custody. He was charged with two counts of first-degree murder, two counts of robbery with a dangerous weapon, and one count of shooting into an occupied vehicle. He was placed in the Robeson County Detention Center and held without bond for the murder charges.
Investigators continued to pursue leads in the case. Fairmont's police chief later stated that the department was committed to "never stopping in our attempt to bring justice to the victims and their families." This persistence led to a second arrest two years later. Just after 4 a.m. on March 18, 2024, officers arrested Tarvarius Moore, also known as "TT," at a home in Fairmont. Moore was charged with two counts of first-degree murder, two counts of robbery with a dangerous weapon, discharging a weapon into an occupied property, and one count of felony conspiracy.
As of March 2024, two suspects have been arrested and charged in connection with the deaths of Jonathan Lowery Jr. and Caleb Hunt. Semaj Bethea remains in jail awaiting trial.
