Avantae Pender, 21, a Black / African American male from Wilson, North Carolina, died on September 15, 2025, after gunfire erupted around 2 p.m. on the 900 block of Washington Street. Police found multiple people shot; Avantae Pender, 21, and Natasha Latrice Sutton, 44, were pronounced dead at the scene, while another adult was rushed to the hospital with injuries and a fourth victim was treated by EMS.
Neighbors described a burst of violence that shattered an otherwise ordinary afternoon, and the street where the shooting unfolded quickly filled with officers, tape, and stunned family members.
Investigators identified 39-year-old Donta Maurice Chestnut as the suspect and took him into custody the same day. According to charging information reported by local outlets, he faces two counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of Natasha Sutton and Avantae Pender and at least one count of attempted first-degree murder connected to the surviving victim. The arrest capped a frantic search that began moments after the gunfire stopped, and the charges sketched an initial picture of deliberate, lethal intent.
In the hours that followed, the case widened. Police later arrested Tiffany Monique Chestnut in connection with the aftermath of the shooting, alleging she tried to help the suspect avoid capture. Court documents cited by reporters say she picked up a piece of the handgun used in the crime and returned it to him as he fled; she was charged with accessory after the fact and with altering, stealing, or destroying criminal evidence, and was held on bond pending a court appearance. Her arrest added a new layer to a case already straining a grieving community.
The killings left Wilson reeling, and tributes began to surface for both victims as detectives pressed forward. Public records and local reporting traced the investigation’s immediate arc—from the first 911 calls, to the pronouncement of Avantae Pender’s death at the scene, to the swift arrests that followed. Amid the shock and the ritual cadence of charges and court dates, the story that remained was painfully simple: a 21-year-old, identified as Avantae Pender, was lost to sudden violence alongside a loved one, and the city’s attempt to account for that loss moved from a bloodstained street to a courtroom.
