A former resident of Gastonia and U.S. Marine Corps Reserve sergeant killed his estranged girlfriend before killing himself on Monday, according to New Hanover County authorities.
Justin Hakeem Walker, 26, killed Rebecca Jones, 23, in his apartment. He left a note to direct detectives there.
He then shot himself in the head soon after, around 2:30 p.m., at a gun range in Wilmington after renting three handguns. The note was left near his body.
Investigators used the business’s surveillance footage to determine the timeline, according to Lt. Jerry Brewer of the Hanover County Sheriff’s Office.
Police found Jones’s body within the next half hour after entering Walker’s apartment off New Centre Drive, police spokeswoman Linda Rawley said. She didn’t seem to have been shot and a pending autopsy will determine the cause of death.
