Fayetteville man sentenced to 30 years for home invasion murder

A Fayetteville man will spend the next 30 years in prison for his part in a deadly home invasion in 2021.

Calvin Wayne Locklear, 34, pleaded guilty Thursday to second-degree murder, attempted robbery with a dangerous weapon, and possession of a firearm by a felon in the June 2, 2021, death of homeowner Justin Ellis Jackson, 33.

"Drugs have dictated (Locklear's) entire life," his defense attorney, Robert Cooper, said during the plea hearing in Cumberland County Superior Court, "(He) does not want to continue living like this."

Police said Locklear and accomplice James Edward Corbett, 33, knocked on the door of Jackson's Milton Drive home then forced their way in and started shooting after his teen daughter answered, police said. Jackson was killed, and his daughter was injured, according to Assistant District Attorney Kayley Taber. Taber said someone inside the home returned fire striking Corbett in the chest and injuring Locklear before the two men fled.

A Ring doorbell camera captured this image of Calvin Locklear, carrying a long rifle and running into a Milton Drive home, during a deadly home invasion June 5, 2021. Locklear pleaded guilty Thursday to second-degree murder in the death of homeowner Justin Jackson.
A Ring doorbell camera captured this image of Calvin Locklear, carrying a long rifle and running into a Milton Drive home, during a deadly home invasion June 5, 2021. Locklear pleaded guilty Thursday to second-degree murder in the death of homeowner Justin Jackson.
Calvin Locklear
Calvin Locklear

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A portion of the home invasion was caught on the family's Ring doorbell camera. Shortly after the shooting, Corbett was dropped off at a hospital in Hoke County where he died from his injuries, Taber said. The motive for the home invasion was that Locklear and Corbett were looking to steal cash and marijuana, according to search warrants in the case.

Locklear was arrested in Lumberton three weeks later.

On Thursday, Locklear also pleaded guilty to unrelated charges of assault with a deadly weapon inflicting serious injury, two counts of possession of a firearm by a felon and misdemeanor habitual assault in a shooting outside of a Circle K in 2020.

A little more than two months before the home invasion killing, Locklear had been released from prison for violating his probation on a 2008 manslaughter charge, state records indicate. He also has prior convictions for cruelty to animals, assault on a female, and malicious conduct by a prisoner. The conduct was for stabbing another inmate with a handful of pencils while serving his manslaughter sentence.

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

Crime scene tape surrounds an area on Milton Drive  Thursday night where a man was killed and a girl injured in a home invasion. A second man arrived at an area hospital with a fatal gunshot wound and police are trying to determine if it is related.
Crime scene tape surrounds an area on Milton Drive Thursday night where a man was killed and a girl injured in a home invasion. A second man arrived at an area hospital with a fatal gunshot wound and police are trying to determine if it is related.

This article originally appeared on The Fayetteville Observer: Man sentenced to prison in Fayetteville home invasion murder