On September 15, 2025, in Wilson, North Carolina, 44-year-old, Black/African American Natasha Latrice Sutton was shot and killed alongside her 21-year-old son, Avantae Pender, in a burst of gunfire that rattled Washington Street on a Monday afternoon. Police said two others, identified as Tiffany Fogg and Tyron Sutton, were also wounded but survived. News of the killings spread quickly through Wilson, where word of a mother and son lost within the same hour hit with particular force.
Investigators moved fast. By that evening, officers arrested 39-year-old Donta Maurice Chestnut, a locally known youth mentor, and charged him in the shooting that left 44-year-old Natasha Latrice Sutton and 21-year-old Avantae Pender dead. In the days that followed, police announced a second arrest: 38-year-old Tiffany Chestnut was taken into custody in connection with the case as the probe widened. Coverage described mounting accusations that included two counts of first-degree murder for Donta Chestnut, while authorities continued piecing together how the confrontation erupted in the middle of the day.
Accounts from local outlets outlined a tense scene in the 900 block of Washington Street around 2 p.m., where the gunfire that killed 44-year-old Natasha Latrice Sutton and 21-year-old Avantae Pender broke out, leaving neighbors and passersby scrambling for cover. Police emphasized the investigation remained active even after the arrests, as family members mourned and the city took stock of a loss that had touched multiple households at once.
In the aftermath, the name of 44-year-old Natasha Latrice Sutton appeared in obituaries and memorial postings that fixed the date—Monday, September 15, 2025—and marked the heartbreak of a life cut short. Vigils and remembrance notes sketched a portrait of the woman behind the headline while court filings and press briefings sketched the case against the suspects. As Wilson looked toward its courtrooms for answers, friends and family held to the memory of 44-year-old Natasha Latrice Sutton and the promise that a full accounting would follow.
