A year later, 18-year-old's Fayetteville slaying still an open case

The autopsy report and court records in an unsolved Fayetteville slaying from January 2023 reveal 18-year-old Stephon Links was shot multiple times in the back and someone may have posted to his Facebook page after his death.

According to the 911 call, a woman showing her children a house she'd just rented on Docia Circle discovered Links' body about 11 a.m. on Jan. 15, 2023.

More: Update: Fayetteville police investigate shooting death of teen found in yard Sunday

"I was bringing my son back to the backyard and there's someone lying dead in the grass, I think," the woman said through tears in the 11:07 a.m. call. "He's not moving or anything."

According to the autopsy report, the teen was shot three times in the back.

Search warrants in the case

Court records reveal investigators were able to track Links' movements Jan. 12 in the hours before they believe he was killed.

Using surveillance video, detectives found that Links was in a Dodge Journey SUV with tinted windows and a temporary plate when he went to a Raeford Road Subway restaurant at 8:02 p.m. and then a Cliffdale Road convenience store at 10:48 p.m.

At the convenience store, the record notes, Links was driving the SUV and purchased a pack of Backwoods cigars through the drive-thru. A search warrant said that at the time, Links was "wearing a distinctive blue 'bubble' coat with a royal blue long sleeve underneath," and there were others in the car with him.

The record states that when his body was found, he was wearing the same clothes and had the pack of cigars in his pocket.

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Eighteen minutes after the convenience store visit, the same white Dodge Journey was captured in the 5200 block of Merritt Drive traveling toward the Docia Circle home, just five houses away. Ten minutes after that, the SUV drives past again, away from the house on Docia Circle.

According to search warrants, a day after the killing, surveillance footage captured images of the Dodge Journey parked on Bragg Boulevard while "individuals" are seen wiping down the vehicle's doors with a towel, removing the temporary plate and gathering what appeared to be cleaning supplies.

Investigators requested cell tower information "identifying any and all cell phone devices ... that were in the area of ... Docia Circle at the time of the shooting."

Investigators also noted in a search warrant that Links' cellphone was stolen after he was shot.

A friend, the record states, provided police with a screenshot of a post made to Links' Facebook page "the night he was murdered stating the following 'I'm in a better place now.'"

No arrest has been made in the killing, police said Wednesday.

Tips can be submitted by calling Fayetteville/Cumberland County CrimeStoppers at 910-483-TIPS (8477), visiting http://fay-nccrimestoppers.org online or by downloading the FREE “P3 Tips” app available for mobile devices.

Public safety reporter Joseph Pierre can be reached at jpierre@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on The Fayetteville Observer: No arrests made in the shooting death of Stephon Links in 2023