Four juveniles conspired to kill 16-year-old boy at party, NC sheriff says

Four juveniles have been arrested in connection with the 3 a.m. killing of a 16-year-old boy at a house party, according to investigators in southeastern North Carolina.

All four are charged with first degree murder, felony conspiracy and attempted murder, the Robeson County Sheriff’s office said in a March 13 news release.

The suspects include one 15-year-old, two 16-year-olds and a 17-year-old, all from Red Springs, officials said. They are being held without bond.

Details of a motive for the killing have not been released.

The four suspects are accused of fatally shooting 16-year-old Keedon Lewis on March 8, at a rural home near Rowland, investigators say. It happened around 3 a.m. during a party, and Lewis died before deputies arrived, the sheriff’s office said.

Investigators have not said if Lewis knew the suspects. Their identities have not been released.

The boy’s father, Brandon Lewis, has told media outlets Keedon was shot in a field “just a few yards from the place he called home.” He believes his son was set up and lured to the spot, WPDE reports.

An obituary for Keedon reports he was in the eleventh grade student at Purnell Swett High School and loved hunting, fishing and “riding anything with wheels.” He was a member of the Lumbee Tribe, according to friends on social media.

Rowland is about a 110-mile drive southwest from downtown Raleigh.

This story was originally published March 15, 2026 at 5:53 AM.