First Posted: 1/15/2009

LUMBERTON — Law enforcement officers are investigating the Sunday morning shooting death of a man during a robbery attempt on Old Whiteville Road. Part of the investigation includes finding the woman who was with the man who was shot to death.
The dead man, 26-year-old Jeremy Lee Locklear, of 511 E. 21st St., Lumberton, had been at a popular nightclub that city officials have tried to shut down, but Locklear was not shot at Club N’ Motion.
“We are still working on it. We have made no arrests at this time,” Sheriff Kenneth Sealey said this morning. “We also still haven’t found Michelle Desiree, who was with Locklear when he was shot. We don’t know if she was a victim or was maybe an accomplice. We don’t even know for sure that Michelle Desiree is her real name.”
Sealey said Locklear called 911 about 3:07 a.m. on Sunday and said he had been shot, was lying on the side of Old Whiteville Road and needed help. Locklear was taken to Southeastern Regional Medical Center, where he died about an hour after the shooting.
Sealey said that before Locklear died, he was able to provide information on what happened to him.
According to Sealey, Locklear said that he had left the Club N’ Motion on Lackey Street and that he and a woman named Michelle Desiree left about 3 a.m. in separate vehicles. At some point, according to Sealey, Locklear joined Desiree in her Toyota Camry. Locklear said a gunman was hiding in the back seat of the car, and on Old Whiteville Road that person tried to rob him. Locklear said he was shot in the back as he tried to open the door to flee.
Sealey said that Locklear, who would have turned 27 on Thursday, was originally from Red Springs, but had lived in Lumberton for the past three years. He cut hair at the West Side Barber shop on West Fifth Street, the sheriff said.
Anyone with information should call the Sheriff’s Office at (910) 671-3100 or 671-3170.
The club has long been considered by city officials to be a public nuisance. City officials have filed a civil lawsuit against the club, citing a history of violence, underage drinking, drug use and other illegal activities in the club’s vicinity. But the club recently won a court battle over the right to sell alcohol when a judge concluded that many of the allegations against the club, such as underage drinking, could not be proven.