On September 22, 2023, 49-year-old Annie Andaluz was found deceased in her apartment on Cumberland Gap Drive in Fayetteville, North Carolina. Responding to a 911 call, deputies discovered that she had been fatally shot.
The individual who reported finding Andaluz's body was 70-year-old Daniel Lee McLaughlin. He claimed to have discovered her when he visited her apartment that morning. During the 911 call, McLaughlin expressed reluctance to approach the body, stating, "I'm outside.
I'm scared of dead people." He also mentioned, "She dead, look like. Look like somebody shot her." McLaughlin ended the call prematurely after expressing frustration with the dispatcher's instructions.
Investigators noted that Andaluz's phone had several missed calls from McLaughlin in the early hours of the morning, after which his number appeared to have been blocked. Family members reported that Andaluz had recently expressed concerns about McLaughlin visiting her home, especially following an incident on September 20 when he found her with another man.
On May 29, 2024, after an eight-month investigation, McLaughlin was arrested and charged with first-degree murder in connection with Andaluz's death. He was taken into custody at the Cumberland County Sheriff's Office and is being held without bond at the Cumberland County Detention Center. His initial court appearance was scheduled for May 30, 2024.
Notably, this is not McLaughlin's first encounter with the law regarding a homicide. In 1998, he was convicted of second-degree murder for the 1997 shooting death of his estranged wife, Lenora McLaughlin, outside a Wendy's restaurant in Fayetteville. He served nearly 20 years in prison before being released in February 2018.
The arrest of McLaughlin in Andaluz's case has brought a measure of progress to the investigation, though the legal proceedings are ongoing. Authorities continue to encourage anyone with additional information to come forward to assist in the pursuit of justice for Annie Andaluz.
