Fort Bragg soldier charged with murder in Raeford killing of another soldier

F.T. Norton, The Fayetteville Observer
·2 min read
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A Fort Bragg soldier, accused of shooting his fiancee and injuring her child in January, is now facing a murder charge in the Hoke County death of another soldier the same night.

Brandon Allen Amos-Dixon, 25, is additionally charged with first-degree murder in the death of Jimmy Lee Smith III, 24, according to the Hoke County Sheriff’s Office on Monday.

Smith was found with gunshot wounds on Hammond Lane in Raeford about 10:30 p.m. on Jan. 18, the Sheriff's Office said. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

Some 90 minutes earlier, according to a news release from the Harnett County Sheriff’s Office, Amos-Dixon allegedly shot into a car driven by Chelsea Ling Chung, 29, on Hayes Road in the Harnett County portion of Spring Lake. Bullets struck Chung and she was treated at a hospital; her child received “superficial injuries,’ the release said.

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Staff Sgt. Jimmy Smith, 24, was fatally shot Wednesday, Jan. 18, 2023. Officials announced Monday that a murder warrant was issued for another soldier in Smith's killing.
Staff Sgt. Jimmy Smith, 24, was fatally shot Wednesday, Jan. 18, 2023. Officials announced Monday that a murder warrant was issued for another soldier in Smith's killing.

Following a pursuit a day later that officials said lasted several hours, Amos-Dixon was arrested Jan. 19 by Highway Patrol troopers in Bastian, Virginia. He has been held in the Bland County jail there on warrants in Chung’s shooting, as well as Virginia misdemeanor charges of reckless driving/disregarding police command to stop and simple assault on law enforcement/fire/rescue personnel. He's charged in Harnett County with two counts of attempted murder, 10 counts of shooting into an occupied vehicle and two counts of assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill/inflicting serious injury, the Harnett County Sheriff's Office said.

Officials have not released motives in either shooting.

Smith, a staff sergeant, was a culinary specialist in the 3rd Special Forces Group’s Support Battalion. He was born in Rocky Mount and had served in the Army since 2016.

Amos-Dixon, also an active-duty culinary specialist with the rank of staff sergeant, was assigned to the Special Operations Command on Fort Bragg, Army officials said at the time of his arrest. He remained in the Bland County, Virginia jail on Monday awaiting extradition to North Carolina. He'll next appear in Virginia court on April 5, court records show.

F.T. Norton can be reached at fnorton@fayobserver.com

This article originally appeared on The Fayetteville Observer: Fort Bragg soldier charged with murder in Raeford killing of another soldier