Suspect charged with murder after man shot near Wendell dies from injuries
This story was updated Jan. 6, 2025.
The Wake County Sheriff’s Office charged a man with killing his stepfather in December 2023 near Wendell.
Deputies responded at 9:36 p.m. Dec. 1, 2023, to a reported shooting on Campsite Drive, near the eastern Wake County town.
They found 47-year-old Javon Sherice Ellison with apparent gunshot wounds.
He was taken to a hospital where he died during surgery, according to an autopsy report.
He had seven gunshot wounds: five in the abdomen/chest area and two in right arm, according to the report.
On Dec. 2, 2023, Christopher Lamont Galbreath Jr., 30, was arrested and charged with murder in Ellison’s death. Galbreath is Ellison’s stepson and allegedly shot Ellison during an argument, according to search warrants in the case.
The cause of the argument isn’t clear, though search warrants state Ellison’s wife had briefly gone missing the day before the shooting when she left their home after an argument. Investigators discovered a Facebook message from the day of the shooting sent to Galbreath by his sister, who was Ellison’s stepdaughter, stating, “We gon have to shoot that [expletive]” during a discussion about their mother’s disappearance.
By the time of the shooting, Ellison’s wife had returned home. She was present during the argument, search warrants state.
The state of North Carolina will not pursue the death penalty in the case, according to court records.
This story was originally published December 2, 2023 at 10:02 AM with the headline "Suspect charged with murder after man shot near Wendell dies from injuries."
