Background: News footage from Wake Forest, N.C. where Ericka Lucas was shot on August 29 (WRAL). Inset (left): Dexter Lamont Mills (Wake County Sheriff”s Office). Inset (right): Ericka Lucas in a 2014 interview during her tenure as principal at Rolesville High School (WTVD).
A beloved educator from North Carolina lost her life after being shot late last month. Now, two teenagers face murder charges.
Ericka Ruffin Lucas, 56, was a cherished former principal of Rolesville High School and was married to the renowned football coach of Wake Forest High School. According to Wake Forest Police, on August 29, a shooting occurred in her neighborhood, and Lucas tragically got caught in the crossfire. She succumbed to her injuries on Tuesday, causing deep sorrow within the community — and resulting in two teenage suspects being detained.
The Wake Forest Police Department indicated that officers responded to shooting reports shortly after 6 p.m. on August 29. They discovered Lucas suffering from life-threatening gunshot wounds at a residence on East Nelson Avenue.
Investigations revealed that a 16-year-old suspect was arrested on August 30 in connection to the incident. The police established that Lucas “was not the intended target,” and she was “hit by bullets meant for someone else in the vicinity.”
Following Lucas’s death, authorities announced the arrest of 18-year-old Dexter Lamont Mills Jr. Both suspects are charged with murder, with Mills currently held without bond at the Wake County Jail. He also faces charges of possessing a stolen firearm. Mills is scheduled to attend his first court hearing on Wednesday.
Information was not made available for the juvenile suspect. The younger suspect was previously charged with assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill and inflicting serious injury.
A former student who had Lucas as a principal told local NBC affiliate WRAL, “It was really hard being in Wake Forest as a little Black girl, and she really made me feel comfortable, and she made me feel like like I was okay, like I was safe. I guess she was really good. She was really good at making someone feel like they were important.”
According to local news outlet The News & Observer, Lucas left her position at Rolesville High School in 2016 after she oversaw the school’s first full class graduate. The school opened in 2013 after East Wake High School underwent a reorganization.
