Quiet NC Community Shattered by Double Homicide and Apparent Suicide

RAEFORD, N.C. — What began as a routine call for medical assistance in a quiet Hoke County neighborhood turned into a chilling discovery that has left a community reeling.

Authorities say 46-year-old Joann Chavis and her husband, 53-year-old Ted Chavis, were found brutally stabbed to death inside their Raeford home Monday morning — a crime that would soon take an even darker turn.

Their 17-year-old foster child, identified only as D.P., quickly became the prime suspect in what investigators have described as a “deeply disturbing” double homicide.

The search for D.P. stretched across counties and ended nearly 80 miles away, in the small town of Lake Waccamaw. There, outside the Boys & Girls Homes, officers discovered the teen’s car — and moments later, the suspect’s life came to a tragic end.

“When approached by officers,” the Hoke County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement, “D.P. committed suicide from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound.”

The motive behind the killings remains a mystery. Investigators have not said what may have driven the teen to violence or why they traveled to Lake Waccamaw, though authorities confirmed the Chavises were not affiliated with the Boys & Girls Homes organization.

A spokesperson for the facility said only, “We cannot comment on any juvenile who may or may not have been in our programs of care.”

What began as a call for a possible cardiac arrest quickly spiraled into one of the most harrowing crime scenes Hoke County has seen in years. The State Bureau of Investigation has taken over the case, and detectives continue to piece together the final hours of a family whose home once symbolized safety — until it became the site of unspeakable tragedy.