La’ren Dickens, 20, a Black woman from Rocky Mount, North Carolina, died in the early hours of Sunday, July 13, 2025. Officers were called just before 3 a.m. to the 800 block of Virginia Street at Martin Luther King Jr. Park, where they found Dickens and 19-year-old Ryo Steele with gunshot wounds; despite life-saving efforts, both were pronounced dead at the scene.
Local coverage that day described the killings as one of multiple shootings across the weekend as detectives worked to piece together what happened and why. An obituary later confirmed Dickens’ age, hometown, and date of death.
Within days, investigators announced arrests and began to separate responsibility for each victim. Rocky Mount police first charged three men: Bernard Smith, 27, and Trevion Jayvon Scarboro, 20, each with first-degree murder in the death of Dickens, and Devonte Gregory Dales, 22, with first-degree murder in the death of Steele. Authorities said all three were being held without bond as the case remained active.
A week and a half after the shooting, a fourth suspect was taken into custody. Court records showed that 19-year-old Keyvonte Tyson was charged with murder in connection with the double homicide and held without bond, marking the latest development in the investigation. Police did not release additional details about the circumstances, possible motive, or how each suspect’s alleged role fit into the events of that morning.
Community and regional reports continued to track the case through July, noting the location—MLK Park on East Virginia Street—the time frame around 3 a.m., and the parallel arrests tied to the weekend’s other shootings. Memorial pages kept the basic facts of Dickens’ death visible as the case moved forward, while officials reiterated that the investigation was ongoing and urged anyone with information to come forward.
