Two jailed in Fayetteville homicide at Lake in the Pines in January
Two men have been charged with murder in the shooting death of a Spring Lake man who court records indicate was set up to be robbed of drugs.
James Dewan Goodman Jr., 28, and Malcolm Robinson, 28, are each charged with first-degree murder and conspiracy to traffic opium/heroin in the shooting death of Jonathan Christopher Connell, 32, of Spring Lake.
According to an arrest warrant, on Jan. 11, 2024, Connell was planning to meet with individuals to sell 60 pills. A search warrant for access to the cellphones of Robinson and Goodman alleged the two were communicating with Connell on the night of the murder and the parties were to meet at the Lake in the Pines apartment complex off Rosehill Road.
The search warrants state that the phone records revealed Goodman and Robinson traveled together to Lake in the Pines at 8:12 p.m. on the night of the killing. The phone records also reportedly show that the man were near the shooting scene from 8:31 p.m. to 9:01 p.m., and leaving the area at 9:03 p.m.
Related: 'I don’t know if they shot somebody': Two men with victim in moments before killing
Fayetteville officers were called to the scene about 9 p.m. and were flagged down by residents who showed police a vehicle that had been shot into, a warrant states. Inside, Connell was found dead in the driver's seat. He'd been shot multiple times, police said.
"(Witness) stated they heard a gunshot and observed the individual on the passenger side of Connell's vehicle jump backward and throw the front passenger door open," the affidavit states. "(Witness) heard additional gunshots and observed the individuals run away to the left of Connell's vehicle."
Both front doors of Connell's vehicle were open, the passenger window was shattered and marijuana, fentanyl, packaged prescription pills and $2,000 cash were inside the vehicle, the records state.
A palm print, recovered from the passenger-side door, matched Robinson, the record alleges. He was arrested Monday in the killing. Goodman was arrested Friday at his Hope Mills home.
Both men are being held without bail in the Cumberland County Detention Center, according to jail records.
Court records indicate that Goodman has a pending charge of first-degree murder in the 2016 Robeson County killing of 26-year-old Nokoma Jacobs. Four other people were also charged in Jacobs' fatal shooting, The Robesonian reported.
Public safety reporter Joseph Pierre can be reached at jpierre@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on The Fayetteville Observer: Goodman and Robinson charged in Fayetteville murder of Jonathan Connell
