Samir Tileek Register, 20, male, Black/African American, left home for a summer weekend trail ride in rural Bladen County and never made it back. Just after midnight on July 20, 2025, as the Triple B Ranch event in Tar Heel swelled with more than a thousand attendees, reports of gunfire sent deputies racing to Spring Branch Road. They found Samir Tileek Register on the roadside with a gunshot wound; life-saving measures were attempted, but he died from his injuries. The sheriff’s office immediately treated the case as a murder and pleaded for tips from anyone who had seen what happened in the chaotic moments when the crowd scattered.
In the days that followed, friends and family gathered to grieve a Clinton High School graduate remembered for his promise and warmth. Funeral plans were set quickly: a service on July 27 at Sampson Middle School, with burial at Springvale Cemetery in Clinton, and a public viewing the day before at Worley Funeral Home. Online memorials marked the date and place of death—July 20, 2025, in Tar Heel, North Carolina—adding to the public record of a life cut short.
More than a month after the shooting, investigators announced a break. On August 27, 2025, Raleigh police stopped a vehicle and took into custody Elijah Jamal Dixon, 19, of Clinton, after the Bladen County Sheriff’s Office obtained warrants in the killing of Samir Tileek Register. Detectives said the arrest came after weeks of leads and witness interviews and emphasized the investigation was far from over; they believed others were involved and urged additional witnesses to come forward. Dixon was returned to Bladen County to face judicial proceedings while detectives continued working the case.
Even as the arrest offered a measure of forward motion, the portrait of the night remained stark: a festive trail ride weekend that began with music and horse culture ended with gunfire on a country road and the loss of a 20-year-old son. Authorities kept open lines for tips through the Bladen Sheriff App and the investigations division, saying justice for Samir Tileek Register and his family would remain a priority as they pursued every thread toward all responsible parties.
