North Carolina man arrested in fatal road-rage shooting of Pennsylvania mom of 6
Dejywan R. Floyd, 29, has been charged with first-degree murder
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}North Carolina police have arrested a man they say gunned down a mother of six during an alleged road attack late last week, officials said Thursday.
Dejywan R. Floyd, a 29-year-old Lumberton, N.C., man was arrested shortly after 12:30 a.m. Thursday, the Robeson County Sheriff's Office said. He has been charged with first-degree murder and discharging a weapon into an occupied property in connection with the senseless shooting of Pennsylvania mom Julie Eberly.
Eberly, 47, was on her way to Hilton Head, S.C., with her husband, Ryan, to meet with friends and celebrate their seventh wedding anniversary, relatives previously told Fox News.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The couple was traveling near the area of Interstate 95’s Exit 22 around 11:40 a.m. on March 25 when what started as an exciting day took a turn for the worst. Investigators determined Floyd grew angry after "the victim’s vehicle came close to the suspect vehicle during a merge into a lane," according to a post on the sheriff’s office Facebook page.
Floyd then pulled his vehicle alongside the Eberlys’ passenger side, rolled his window down and "fired multiple shots into the passenger door," police said.
He struck Julie Eberly one time and, according to witnesses, "sped off and exited at Exit 22," officials said.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Ryan Eberly, who was driving, was not injured and pulled his car to the side of the road until first responders arrived. Medics rushed Julie Eberly to an area hospital, but she could not be saved.
Ryan Eberly later told Lancaster Online he didn’t give Floyd "the finger or beep my horn at him or anything to heighten the situation at all."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"I looked over. The passenger window of my car was shattered," he told the news site. "My immediate attention turned to my wife and, obviously, I determined she was hit and got to the shoulder as soon as I could."
Julie Eberly, who was fatally shot in a road rage incident in North Carolina last week, is seen with her husband, Ryan Eberly, and their six children. (Sherry Wilkinson Photography) (Sherry Wilkinson Photography)
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Julie’s death prompted a family and community effort to track down her killer. On Tuesday, the sheriff’s office announced that local residents had put forward a $20,000 reward for information leading police to the gunman.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}In a statement provided to Fox News, Eberly’s family said Julie and Ryan "were looking forward to the next stages of their lives together, including enjoying being first-time grandparents."
"Julie truly had a mother’s heart and delighted in being an integral part of each of the children's lives," the statement continued.
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}On Thursday, Floyd was booked into the Robeson County Detention Center without bond pending a court appearance scheduled for later in the day.
"The arrest of Floyd is the direct result of law enforcement agencies and the community working together. The surveillance footage provided to investigators by dozens of cooperating businesses and residents were critical elements in the tracking of Floyd’s path," Sheriff Burnis Wilkins said in a prepared statement. "Regardless of the circumstances, no one deserved to be murdered while traveling our nations (sic) highways."
Fox News' Paul Best contributed to this report.