The reported girlfriend of Mark Anthony Nelson has been arrested and charged with the Nov. 29 murder of a Hope Mills man and the shooting of his grandfather.
Tamika Ford, 29, of 24512 Peacock Road, was charged with murder, robbery with a dangerous weapon, attempted murder and assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill Dec. 4, according to warrants. She is being held under $1,250,250 bond. Nelson remains under no bond, the sheriff’s office reported.
Nelson was arrested Dec. 2 in Tabor City. The couple allegedly lured George
Stump and Tristan Stavee to a church on Sellerstown Road on Nov. 29, where both Stump and Stavee were shot.
Stump remains hospitalized, but Stavee was dead on the scene. Stump is reportedly still in critical condition.
Stump and Stavee went to meet the couple in response to a Craigslist ad for a Camaro automobile. Stump is a used car dealer, according to investigators.
The suspects used a .40 caliber handgun to shoot both men at close range.
Stavee left behind a wife and two children. An avid outdoorsman, he worked for the Fayetteville Public Works Commission. A lifelong friend said in a social media post that Stavee was always cheerful and willing to help others.
Nelson has a long history of crimes involving firearms and drugs. He was arrested earlier this year with his father after a drug raid on their home turned up narcotics and a stolen firearm. He was also charged with assault with a deadly weapon after shooting into a woman’s car in Whiteville, wounding the female and narrowly missing two toddlers.
