Lindsey Killian Paschal, a 39-year-old White female from Fayetteville, North Carolina, formerly of Lillington, died on Monday, May 25, 2026, after a shooting at a homeless encampment in Fayetteville. She had been born in Suffolk County, Virginia, grew up in Harnett County, North Carolina, graduated from Harnett Central High School in 2005, and later attended Central Carolina Community College for phlebotomy.
Her obituary remembered her as part of a family with deep ties in the Lillington area, and her death quickly became the focus of a Cumberland County homicide investigation.
The shooting happened in a wooded area at the end of Bureau Drive in Fayetteville, where deputies were called shortly after 11 a.m. First responders found Lindsey at the scene, and she was pronounced dead there. Early reports described the location as a homeless encampment, and later details from an arrest affidavit indicated that Lindsey was not the person directly involved in the confrontation that allegedly led to the gunfire.
According to the reported affidavit details, the fatal shot was described as a stray bullet fired during an altercation nearby. Authorities alleged that Dominic Jermaine Smith, 47, of Fayetteville, was pistol-whipping another man when a gunshot was fired, striking Lindsey. What appears to have begun as violence between others ended with Lindsey losing her life at the encampment.
An arrest was made in the case. Dominic Jermaine Smith was charged with first-degree murder in Lindsey Paschal’s death. He was taken into custody and held without bond at the Cumberland County Detention Center, with an initial court appearance set for the following Tuesday afternoon. Available reports did not identify any additional suspects, and no trial, plea, conviction, or sentencing information was available from the online sources reviewed.
