On a Monday evening in Auburn, Alabama, the life of 35-year-old Lucas Spinks Jr. was tragically cut short. On March 7, 2022, at approximately 7:45 p.m., emergency services responded to a call of a shooting at a residence on Commerce Drive. Inside, they discovered Spinks and a 28-year-old woman suffering from gunshot wounds. Despite the immediate life-saving efforts of first responders, Spinks succumbed to his injuries and was pronounced deceased at the scene.
The female victim was transported to a trauma center for medical treatment.
Witnesses at the scene described a chaotic and violent encounter, stating that a Black male dressed in dark clothing had entered the home and opened fire before fleeing on foot. As law enforcement searched the vicinity for the gunman, they located another individual nearby who had also sustained a fatal gunshot wound. This person, who matched the description of the suspect, was pronounced dead at the scene. Further investigation by the Auburn Police Department revealed that the deceased suspect was the individual who had shot Spinks and the female victim.
The investigation took another turn as it was discovered that two other individuals at the scene had exchanged gunfire with the initial shooter after he had attacked Spinks and the woman. It was during this exchange that the suspect was fatally wounded. While authorities stated that the death of the primary offender precluded criminal charges against him, the case remained under active investigation. This led to a significant development on March 30, 2022, when the Auburn Police Department, with the assistance of the U.S. Marshals Fugitive Task Force, arrested 37-year-old Carl Mack Kitchens of Columbus, Georgia. Kitchens was taken into custody on felony warrants charging him with two counts of Capital Murder and two counts of Attempted Murder in connection with the incident that resulted in the death of Lucas Spinks Jr.
