Livestream video, ankle monitor lead to arrests of Fayetteville brothers in July slaying
A livestreamed video and a probation ankle monitor led to the arrests of two brothers in a fatal shooting on Stansberry Street in July, court records reveal.
Devonte Tyrell McClain, 20, and Adriane McClain, 19, are each charged with first-degree murder and felony conspiracy in the shooting death of Lorenzo McLaughlin Jr., 22.
McLaughlin was shot while walking on Stansberry Street in the area of Primrose Drive about 11:30 a.m. July 29. He was pronounced dead at the hospital.
According to the probable cause affidavits attached to the arrest warrants, just prior to the shooting, McLaughlin was walking through his neighborhood while "engaged in a livestream video on social media with an adversarial group." A recording of the video was provided to police.
The record alleges that Devonte McClain was one of the adversaries and he reportedly told McLaughlin that he and others were headed in his direction from downtown.
"(Devonte McClain) also tells the victim to flip his camera view around; presumably, so that the group could see the victim's location instead of his face," the record states.
The investigator said in the affidavit that he recognized the surroundings as the location of the impending shooting.
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Shortly after showing his location, according to the record, McLaughlin said, “Y’all made me walk to the store for nothing. We walking all the way home like you wanted me to.”
Additionally, the record noted that a surveillance camera captured footage of a Chevy Malibu with a sunroof driving toward the victim from the direction of McLaughlin's home which was about a 10th of a mile from the scene of the shooting. Four seconds after the Malibu was out of the camera's view, gunshots could be heard, the affidavit said. Also, minutes before the shooting, a city-owned camera captured images of the identical Malibu with a fake license plate driving north on Murchison Road toward the location where McLaughlin was shot, the record said.
McLaughlin's body was discovered after police responded to reports at 11:36 a.m. of a bullet striking an occupied home on Gola Drive, one block south of Stansberry Street. McLaughlin was taken to Cape Fear Valley Medical Center where he was pronounced dead, the affidavit said.
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The record states that multiple .40 caliber shell casings were located at the scene. and witnesses named both brothers and another individual as suspects in the shooting.
According to the affidavit, investigators discovered that Adriane McClain's ankle monitor pinged in the area of the crime scene at the time of the shooting. The ankle monitor's movements also corresponded with the movement of the Chevy Malibu, the record said. McClain had been released from prison six weeks earlier in a 2022 case and was serving the remainder of that sentence under supervision, Department of Correction records show.
Additionally, detectives received a recording of a livestream video from inside a vehicle with a sunroof, the record stated.
"The video shows Adriane and Devonte McClain, as well as a third individual in the back seat, prior to the shooting. Adriane appears to be the driver of the vehicle and tells another person they are going to Murchison Road. The individuals are discussing which weapon to use," the affidavit said.
Devonte McClain is alleged to have said, “Ain’t nobody about to play with us. I just tried to kill Zo." "Zo," investigators presume, refers to Lorenzo McLaughlin.
The affidavit alleges Adriane McClain added, “He needs to be hiding. He does not need to be outside.”
According to the affidavit, detectives tracked Adriane McClain’s ankle monitor to a location on Silk Lane, where they found and seized the Malibu from a vacant lot.
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Adriane McClain was arrested about 16 hours after the killing at the Police Department. Shortly after his brother was arrested, Devonte McClain was arrested in a room at the Red Roof Inn on Cedar Creek Road.
Returned to prison
Following his arrest in McLaughlin's slaying, Adriane McClain had his post-release supervision revoked on July 31 and he was returned to prison to serve the remainder of his sentence for his 2022 conviction. According to court and prison records, McClain was convicted in February 2023 of discharging a weapon into occupied property and possession of a stolen firearm for a March 2022, shooting; and second-degree burglary and breaking and entering on Feb. 2, 2022.
At the time of his arrest in the 2022 shooting, McClain was 17, but the case was sent to adult court, court records show. In that case, he fired shots into a Roosevelt Drive home about 3 p.m. Mar. 16, 2022, while four people were inside. His prison sentence expires April 18, 2024, the record states.
Devonte McClain is being held in the Cumberland County jail without bail.
Public safety reporter Joseph Pierre can be reached at jpierre@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on The Fayetteville Observer: Livestream video, ankle monitor lead to arrests of Fayetteville men
