Zane Thomas Hughes, 19, male, Black/African American, was shot and killed on the afternoon of July 31, 2025, in the parking lot of the Avalon Fishing Pier along North Virginia Dare Trail in Kill Devil Hills. Police said 911 calls about shots fired came in at 2:37 p.m., and officers arrived within minutes to find 19-year-old Zane Hughes dead at the scene; a second teenager, a 15-year-old visitor, was gravely wounded and flown to Norfolk for treatment. Authorities publicly identified Zane Thomas Hughes the following day, describing him as a local resident from the Colington area. The department characterized the incident as isolated and rapidly contained.
Within hours of the shooting, investigators arrested 16-year-old Henry Lee Hargis of Kill Devil Hills. He was charged with first-degree murder in the death of Zane Thomas Hughes, 19, and with assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill inflicting serious injury for the wounding of the 15-year-old bystander. According to regional outlets, the suspect was apprehended in neighboring Kitty Hawk shortly after the attack, and prosecutors later confirmed that a Dare County grand jury indicted him on August 11.
As detectives reconstructed events around Avalon Pier, two additional teens were charged as adults in early September. On September 9, 2025, officers arrested 17-year-old Kayden Mychael Lindsey of Kitty Hawk on a count of first-degree murder as an accessory before the fact, and 17-year-old Zachary Kane Rose of Grandy on a count of felony aid and abet first-degree murder. A week later, both were indicted for first-degree murder, joining the case centered on the killing of Zane Thomas Hughes, 19.
By mid-October, the District Attorney’s office reported that the cases for Henry Hargis, Kayden Lindsey, and Zachary Rose—each being held at the Pitt Regional Juvenile Center—were continued to December 8, 2025, for disposition hearings. Officials also reiterated that the additional charge tied to the shooting of the 15-year-old bystander remained in place against Hargis, while the broader investigation into the slaying of Zane Thomas Hughes, 19, continued under Kill Devil Hills Police.
