Pregnant Navy veteran shot to death in NC club

By Keenan Willard

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    WILSON, North Carolina (WRAL) — A 29-year-old Greenville woman who was four months pregnant was shot and killed at Evolution Music Hall in Wilson during a Christmas event early Sunday morning.

Precious Vernetta Dyer was pronounced dead at the scene, officials said.

​”It’s been terrible,” her mother, Tijuana Locus said. “For me, I know that Christmas will never be the same.”

Officials with the Wilson County Sheriff’s Office said Dyer was an “innocent patron at the event. There was no evidence of her being in any altercation.”

WRAL News reached out to the sheriff’s office to find out what led to the shooting and has not yet heard back.

Because there was such a large number people at the music hall on U.S. Highway 301, authorities are looking for the public’s help to find out more information about the shooting. The sheriff’s office asks that anyone with information reach out to them at 252-237-2118.

Locus is begging for justice for her daughter who has so much of her life ahead of her.

“Someone knows who did it. Tell, call,” Locus said. “If it was your daughter … you’d like to know who shot them, who took their life.”

Locus said the family is still in shock over what happened. No one expects to lose someone they love at such a young age, Locus said.

Dyer had her whole life ahead of her. She was a veteran and had served in the U.S. Navy for seven years. Her mother said she was energetic and adventurous and would take part in daring activities, like hang gliding.

Dyer and her boyfriend, the father of her baby, had planned to get married in January.

Locus said that she wasn’t sure what happened at the music hall but believes her daughter was caught in the crossfire.

She said she saw on Facebook there was a shooting at the music hall. Knowing Dyer was at the event, she began frantically messaging her.

“I was sending her messages via Facebook, and she was not answering me. That’s what made me upset and nervous,” Locus said.

She then heard from someone at the event that Dyer had been shot and rushed to Vidant Medical Center.

While she was on the way to the hospital, she got a phone call from the Wilson County Sheriff’s Office.

“They said sorry for your loss,” Locus said. “That’s when I found out she had died.”

“I was under the impression that she was fighting. I did not know she had passed,” she said. “And I did not want to be told on the phone.”

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