Andrea Farrior, a 31-year-old woman from Durham, NC, was tragically killed on September 8, 2018. Andrea was found dead in a vehicle parked in the driveway of a home in the 1900 block of East Main Street. Her husband, Eugene Hanks, was also found near the home suffering from multiple gunshot wounds. The couple had been ambushed by an acquaintance while they were in their car.
Eugene Hanks told police that he knew the gunman, who he referred to as "Black," because he and Andrea had been over to the man's apartment before, and their children had played together.
On the evening of the incident, Eugene Hanks had been talking with "Black" on the phone to arrange a place to meet. After initially meeting on Taylor Street, "Black" told Eugene and Andrea to follow him in their car to Cherry Grove Street. There, "Black" got out of a white Jeep and approached the couple, asking Eugene for his cellphone so he could put his new number into it. Once Eugene handed over his phone, "Black" opened fire on the car, wounding both Eugene and Andrea. Eugene managed to speed off to East Main Street, where he began pounding on doors for help.
Investigators found several shell casings on Cherry Grove Street, but efforts to locate Eugene's phone were unsuccessful. A white Jeep Compass, linked to a woman whose boyfriend matched the description of the gunman, was found parked at the apartment complex where Eugene said "Black" lived. The gunman was identified as Dwight Leon Gill Jr., a 35-year-old man from Durham. After Eugene picked Gill's photo out of a lineup, police obtained arrest warrants charging Gill with murder and attempted murder.
Dwight Leon Gill Jr. was eventually captured in South Carolina by members of the U.S. Marshals Service’s Operation Intercept Fugitive Apprehension Task Force. He was charged with one count of murder and one count of attempted murder in connection with the double-shooting that left Andrea Farrior dead and Eugene Hanks injured. Gill was held in the Orangeburg County Detention Center in South Carolina.
