Gareshia Shanta Joyner, 36, a Black woman from Goldsboro, North Carolina, was found dead inside her home on July 21, 2025, after officers conducted a welfare check at about 5:20 p.m. on Central Heights Road in the Tanglewood Mobile Home Park. EMS pronounced Gareshia Shanta Joyner, 36, deceased at the scene. Earlier news alerts initially noted only that she was unresponsive and that details were limited as detectives from the Investigative Services Bureau and the Crime Scene Unit began
processing the residence.
As investigators reconstructed the day’s events, they learned that, that same morning around 7:45 a.m. in Pitt County, deputies had discovered a wrecked vehicle off National Avenue in Greenville. Inside was the body of 37-year-old Kendrick Joyner, later ruled a suicide. After Goldsboro detectives were notified of his death, they requested the welfare check that led to the discovery of Gareshia Shanta Joyner, 36. An autopsy subsequently determined she died of a gunshot wound that was not self-inflicted. Based on the evidence and timeline, authorities concluded the case was an apparent domestic-violence murder-suicide in which Kendrick Joyner fatally shot Gareshia Shanta Joyner, 36, before taking his own life.
Police publicly identified Gareshia Shanta Joyner, 36, as the victim and confirmed she died inside the home on Central Heights Road; some reports specified the location within the Tanglewood community at 3201 Central Heights Road, Lot 105. Local coverage captured the somber mood as neighbors watched patrol cars and evidence technicians move quietly through the mobile home park while the first official statements emphasized that the case was active and details would be limited to protect the integrity of the investigation.
Regarding arrests or suspects, investigators stated they believed the shooter was Gareshia Shanta Joyner’s husband, Kendrick Joyner. Because Kendrick Joyner died by suicide the same day in a separate jurisdiction, there were no arrests; the case has been treated as a suspected murder-suicide rather than an open manhunt. Follow-up releases reiterated the autopsy findings and the domestic-violence context, while inviting tips to confirm remaining details of the timeline.
