Carla Janon Murray, a 39-year-old woman from Morganton, North Carolina, was killed along with her husband, Raheim McClain Murray, in a case investigators allege was driven by money. Online records connected to the case place the couple’s deaths on July 13, 2026. Authorities and later-filed court documents say the Murrays were shot while they were sleeping inside their home north of Morganton.
Carla had reportedly recently received, or was expected to receive, an inheritance of about $75,000, and investigators believe that money became the motive for the killings.
According to search-warrant information made public in August, Jamar Quarmaine Propst and Tosha Lee Lewis knew Carla and Raheim. Investigators allege that Lewis was staying overnight at the Murrays’ residence when the killings occurred. While inside the home, Lewis allegedly unlocked the back door so Propst could enter. Propst is accused of coming into the residence and shooting Carla and Raheim as they slept. Authorities later described the deaths as shootings and charged both Propst and Lewis in connection with both killings.
Investigators allege that the crime continued after Carla and Raheim were dead. Court documents say Propst took possession of the couple’s cellphones and used their faces after their deaths to bypass facial-recognition security. He allegedly unlocked the devices and changed their passcodes, giving the suspects access to financial accounts and other information on the phones. Lewis and Propst are accused of transferring approximately $19,000 from Carla’s Cash App account. Authorities also allege that after the killings and disposal of the bodies, Propst and Lewis moved into the Murrays’ home with their children.
The disappearance of the couple initially left relatives and friends without clear answers. People close to Carla and Raheim reportedly received text messages that appeared to come from the couple during the period when no one was actually seeing them in person. Carla’s relatives said they had gone weeks without seeing her. Friends described Carla and Raheim as generous people who regularly helped others, and Carla’s mother, Iris Phillips, recalled that Carla was someone people could turn to when they were in trouble or needed assistance.
The investigation shifted to a nature-trail area in Glen Alpine, several miles from the Murrays’ home. On July 20, the Burke County Sheriff’s Office and Glen Alpine Police Department responded to a report of suspicious circumstances near a trail in the vicinity of 618 Hennessee Street. Reporting based on the subsequent search warrants said a park employee had discovered two shovels partially concealed with brush or debris near the trail, prompting increased scrutiny of the area. The North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation joined local detectives in searching and processing the scene.
Human remains were found near the trail on July 21 and were subsequently identified as Raheim Murray. Investigators continued working the area while developing evidence against Propst and Lewis. Warrants were obtained charging the pair with first-degree murder and felony conspiracy, and both suspects were taken into custody without incident during the early morning hours of July 25.
Later on July 25, investigators searching the same general area discovered another set of human remains. Those remains were later positively identified as Carla. Authorities said the bodies had been buried near the nature trail and were in a state of decomposition when recovered. Once Carla was identified and investigators connected the second death to the same alleged conspiracy, additional arrest warrants were issued against Propst and Lewis.
Jamar Quarmaine Propst and Tosha Lee Lewis, both 36 at the time of their arrests, were each charged with two counts of first-degree murder and two counts of felony conspiracy. They made their initial court appearances on July 27, where both were denied bond. Court-appointed attorneys were assigned to represent them. Later reporting indicated that their next scheduled court appearances were set for August 18. As of the latest available reports, neither suspect had been tried or convicted in Carla and Raheim Murray’s deaths, and the allegations against them remained pending in court.
Propst was already facing a separate murder prosecution when Carla and Raheim were killed. Prosecutors disclosed during his July court appearance that he had been released on a $100,000 bond in connection with the 2008 killing of Eddie Greene in Catawba County, a case in which Propst had been arrested years later after investigators revisited the homicide. His existing murder charge drew additional attention after his arrest in the Murray case because he was free on bond at the time prosecutors say the new killings occurred.
Investigators have described the $75,000 inheritance connected to Carla as the suspected motive. A coworker who knew the Murrays from the Morganton Hemp Store recalled Carla talking for roughly a year about receiving a substantial inheritance. The search-warrant allegations indicate that Propst and Lewis were aware of the money and targeted the couple because of it. The alleged transfer of $19,000 from Carla’s Cash App account after the shootings became an important part of the financial evidence cited by investigators.
The case involved a large multiagency investigation. Along with the Burke County Sheriff’s Office and Glen Alpine Police Department, the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation assisted with the homicide investigation and recovery scenes. The Federal Bureau of Investigation, Catawba County Sheriff’s Office, Morganton Department of Public Safety and Myrtle Beach Police Department were also identified by authorities as participating agencies. Investigators said much of the later information about the alleged motive, the victims’ phones and the events surrounding the killings came from the investigation and interviews conducted after Propst was taken into custody.
As of the most recent publicly available reporting, prosecutors were pursuing the case as a double first-degree murder and conspiracy prosecution against Propst and Lewis. The evidence described in search warrants presents the killings as a planned attack carried out by people who knew the victims: Lewis allegedly creating access to the home, Propst allegedly entering and shooting the sleeping couple, the defendants allegedly concealing the bodies, taking control of the victims’ phones and money, and then occupying their residence. The investigation remained active, and no trial, verdict or conviction in Carla Murray’s killing had yet been reported.
