Steven Sanderford, a 39-year-old male from Jacksonville, North Carolina, was found with a gunshot wound to the head after deputies were called just after 7 a.m. on Tuesday, September 9, 2025, to 400 Ruddy Court in the South Creek subdivision near Dawson Cabin Road. He was taken for treatment and, despite efforts to save him, Steven Sanderford died on Friday, September 12, 2025, three days after the shooting. The Onslow County Sheriff said investigators immediately began processing the scene and working leads, returning to the neighborhood repeatedly in the days that followed.
Detectives publicly identified a person of interest in the case the following week and asked residents to share tips through Crime Stoppers and the department’s app. Authorities described a painstaking process that included forensics from the scene and the review of digital evidence, but as of those updates, they had not announced an arrest.
The investigation remained active, with deputies seeking additional witness information from the surrounding community.
In the wake of the violence, memorial pages recorded that Steven Sanderford, age 39, was lost to gunfire in Jacksonville on September 9, 2025, while local reporting and funeral notices marked his passing days later. Loved ones remembered him for his generosity, noting that even in death he continued to help others as an organ donor. Together, these records trace the short span from the early-morning shooting to his death and the continuing search for whoever pulled the trigger, a case still awaiting a named suspect and an arrest.
