Amesha Alia Page-Smith, a 24-year-old African American woman from Durham, North Carolina, was tragically killed on June 10, 2011. Amesha was found dead in a parked car near Park Office Drive and N.C. Highway 54 in Research Triangle Park, along with two other women, Alexandria J. Baker Pierce, 23, and Adrianne Celeste Stevens, 22. The autopsy revealed that Amesha was shot four times while sitting in the driver's seat, with gunshot wounds to her right upper shoulder, left side of her stomach,
right leg, and right upper back.
The investigation determined that the shooter was Brinton Marcell Millsap, a 23-year-old African American man from Durham. Millsap, who was found dead nearby, had shot the three women with a .45-caliber handgun before turning the gun on himself. The authorities concluded that it was a triple murder-suicide. Amesha, Alexandria, and Adrianne had been friends since elementary school and attended Durham's Southern High School together. Alexandria and Millsap were dating at the time of the incident.
Amesha was one course shy of completing her psychology degree from North Carolina A&T University. Alexandria was a senior at the University of North Carolina-Greensboro, studying English, and Millsap was a basketball player at Arkansas Bible College. The tragic event left the community in shock and mourning, as they grappled with the loss of three young lives and the circumstances surrounding their deaths.
