Philip Hayes, an 8-year-old African American boy, was tragically murdered on November 2, 1991, in Fayetteville, North Carolina. He was one of three victims in a brutal crime committed by Earl Richmond Jr., a former Army drill sergeant. Richmond had been a family friend of Helisa Stewart Hayes, Philip’s 27-year-old African American mother, and had previously dated one of her sisters. He was also close to Wayne Hayes, Helisa’s ex-husband and the father of Philip and his 7-year-old African American brother, Darien Hayes.
On the night of the murders, Richmond attacked Helisa Hayes in her home at Sunshine Mobile Home Park. He raped and strangled her before turning his attention to her children. Philip Hayes was stabbed 40 times with a pair of scissors and then strangled with an electrical cord wrapped around his neck five times. His younger brother, Darien, was strangled with the cord from a curling iron. The crime scene was horrific, and DNA evidence later linked Richmond to the murders.
Richmond was arrested and convicted for the triple homicide. During the investigation, authorities also connected him to the April 1991 murder of Army Spc. Lisa Ann Nadeau, a 24-year-old payroll clerk at Fort Dix, New Jersey. Nadeau had been beaten with a hammer, stabbed, hog-tied, and strangled. Richmond was sentenced to life in prison for Nadeau’s murder and death for the killings of Helisa, Philip, and Darien Hayes.
Despite his close ties to the Hayes family, Richmond showed no remorse for his crimes. He even served as a pallbearer at the funerals of Helisa and her children. On May 6, 2005, Richmond was executed by lethal injection at Central Prison in Raleigh, North Carolina. Among the witnesses to his execution were Wayne Hayes, the father of Philip and Darien, and Theresa Nadeau Collins, the sister of Lisa Ann Nadeau.
The murders of Philip Hayes, his mother, and his brother remain a chilling reminder of the brutality of Richmond’s crimes. His execution marked the end of a case that had devastated the Fayetteville community and the Hayes family.
