Wake County deputies arrest wanted murder suspect near Garner
Deputies surrounded a Lakeview Mobile Estates home off Anthony Drive and arrested Eric Lamont Martin Jr., 18, ending a manhunt tied to three killings.
Wake County deputies and federal agents arrested Eric Lamont Martin Jr., 18, early Saturday at a home in Lakeview Mobile Estates off Anthony Drive near Garner, ending a regional search tied to killings in Roanoke Rapids and Columbus County. Martin, of Whiteville, was considered armed and dangerous before officers moved in on the south Raleigh address just off Lake Wheeler Road.
The Wake County Sheriff’s Office led the local response, bringing in the Special Response Team, patrol deputies, the Criminal Investigation Division, the K-9 unit and drones. The N.C. Department of Adult Correction and the U.S. Marshals Service also joined the operation, which centered on the home where deputies learned Martin was staying.
Martin is accused in the June 22 killings of Mariah Thompson, 15, and Patrick Shane Faircloth, 19, at the intersection of Vance Street and West 11th Street in Roanoke Rapids. He was wanted on outstanding first-degree murder warrants in the June 11 killing of Raphael Gowans of Whiteville on Berry Lane in Columbus County.
The two victims were riding with Isaiah N. Cooper of Whiteville, who was detained, interviewed and released before later being charged as an accessory after the fact in the Columbus County homicide. Cooper fled the Roanoke Rapids scene with Martin in a vehicle. Roanoke Rapids Police Chief Lawrence Wiggins said investigators were working with Columbus County authorities to determine whether the killings were connected.
No injuries to officers or neighbors occurred during the arrest.
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