Kemberle Braden

Chief of Police

Release: IMMEDIATE                      Contact:  R. Harrell Public Information Specialist

Date: September 4, 2024                   Phone: (910) 433-182    OCA: 2024-013687                

All suspects, and persons charged with a crime, are considered innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. Persons of interest are believed to have information relating to a case, and have not been charged unless stated otherwise.

Detectives Seek Information in Homicide Investigation (Update)

(Fayetteville, NC) –Detectives with the Fayetteville Police Department’s Homicide Unit are seeking the public’s assistance in obtaining information on the updated developments in the homicide case of 7-year-old Zion Gibbs, which occurred on June 7, 2024, along the 800 block of Danish Drive.

On August 2, 2024, detectives with the Fayetteville Police Department’s Homicide Unit requested public assistance in identifying a suspect vehicle involved in a shooting. The vehicle previously released for identification, a gray Chrysler 200, has now been located and seized. It was found unoccupied on private property outside our jurisdiction. A search warrant was executed, and the vehicle was brought to the Fayetteville Police Department for forensic processing, including ballistic, digital, latent, and trace evidence. We are currently awaiting the results. The vehicle was known to frequent the Bonnie Doone and Foxfire areas.

The Chrysler 200 had a single bullet hole in the right passenger door and a medium-sized dent in the driver's door. In addition to locating the vehicle, the firearm used in this crime was forensically linked to this incident through an unrelated case outside our jurisdiction.

Detectives with the Fayetteville Police Department’s Homicide Unit are requesting the public to share any information regarding encounters with the vehicle or its occupants before and/or after the incident involving Zion Gibbs. Additionally, any recollection of accidents or weapon incidents involving the Chrysler 200 with the single bullet hole in the right passenger door and the medium-sized dent in the driver’s door is of interest.

The Fayetteville Police Department’s Homicide Unit is asking for the public’s assistance with any information that could help bring those responsible for Zion Gibbs’s case to justice.

Anyone with information regarding this investigation is asked to contact lead Detective S. Berrios-Rivera at (910) 703-6243 or Crimestoppers at (910) 483-TIPS (8477).  Crimestoppers information can also be submitted electronically, by visiting http://fay-nccrimestoppers.org and completing the anonymous online tip sheet, or by downloading the FREE “P3 Tips” app available for Apple devices in the Apple App Store and available for Android devices in Google Play.