Autopsy reveals tragic end to young lives.
The release of autopsy reports have shed more light into a tragic 2017 double homicide in western Harnett County.
The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner has released the results of autopsies conducted on Kelcie Lyn Vann, 24, of Sanford and her boyfriend, Bryant James Rosser, 27, of Spring Lake who were brutally ambushed and shot in a wooded area along Buffalo Lakes Road in August of 2017.
Three suspects were arrested a short time following the shooting and are in the Harnett County Detention Center awaiting trial without bond.
The Harnett County District Attorney’s Office is seeking the death penalty against Gregory Recardo Fargas, 27, of Lillington, Tracy Nicole Read, 33, of Sanford and Jadin Quincy Bailey, 20, of Lillington.
According to the district attorney’s office and the autopsy reports, the two victims were shot multiple times with two different handguns.
In a summary of the circumstances surrounding the death of the couple, the medical examiner’s office described the horrific scene uncovered by a passerby around 6 p.m. on the evening of Aug. 14.
Residents in the area confirmed to investigators something sounding like gunshots could be heard coming from the area the night before.
In the report, the examiner reports the initial findings of investigators who were on the scene. It states the victims were found next to each other inside the Toyota Camry the couple were driving.
“Decedents were found with the male subject in the driver’s seat and the female subject with her right leg draped over him,” the report states. “The Toyota Camry’s hood and windshield had 21 impacts from gunshots.”
The report also says a total of 31 shell casings were found around the car — 18 from a 9mm and 13 from a .40-caliber weapon. It also says there was blood found on the gear shift and the car was in reverse and had rolled downhill 20 to 25 yards before coming to rest next to a tree, with no damage to the bumper of the car visible. The report added those facts correlate with tire tracks discovered at the scene.
The autopsy report on the wounds sustained by both Miss Vann and Mr. Rosser tell a tale of a brutal attack carried out over a matter of moments in the wooded area where the couple were lured to their death.
According to Harnett County Deputy District Attorney Don Harrop, Miss Vann and Mr. Rosser had been accused of stealing a backpack belonging to Mr. Fargas. The backpack is believed to have contained a firearm and drugs when it was allegedly taken by Mr. Rosser.
“They planned to rob them and teach them a lesson,” Mr. Harrop said previously. “Tracy met with them to set up what appeared to be a drug deal and met with them that morning.”
Mr. Bailey had been recruited by his co-defendants to aid them in recovering the backpack.
Ms. Read met the couple at a nearby gas station after allegedly dropping off her two co-defendants at the sight of where the ambush would take place. The victims were then led to the spot where the ambush took place.
The two men are then accused of approaching the car and opening fire as the victims sat helpless inside.
Following the gruesome shootings, the trio allegedly recovered the backpack, drugs and other items from the vehicle before fleeing the scene.
According to the autopsy report on both Miss Vann and Mr. Rosser, there were multiple shots fired that struck both victims repeatedly.
Mr. Rosser sustained a dozen gunshot wounds. Eight bullets struck his torso, mainly in the back and chest and additional wounds to his limbs. He was struck in both arms. Bullets penetrated the heart, lungs, liver and rib cage, according to the autopsy.
He was also struck four times in the limbs — including one shot to his left upper arm that is suspected of causing it to fracture.
Most of the gunshots were delivered from his left to right side and most were fired from back to front. Some were also fired slightly upward.
It was much the same grisly story for Miss Vann who was struck seven times in the torso, twice in the upper limbs and twice in the right hand, with 10 of the 11 shots leaving no slugs behind. She sustained injuries to the left lung, aorta, liver, stomach, spleen, pancreas, intestines, diaphragm and rib cage.
The majority of the wounds she received were fired from back to front and from left to right, with some shots fired slightly downward.
The report states none of the bullet wounds inflicted on either victim were delivered at close range and the direction of fire from the two weapons indicated to investigators the vehicle or the shooters were moving at the time the victims were hit, according to Mr. Harrop’s comments to The Daily Record previously.
Toxicology reports also obtained by The Daily Record indicate neither victim had consumed alcohol and neither were reported to have drugs in their systems.
A three-week investigation followed the discovery of the crime and led police to the suspects who were taken into custody without incident.
All three are expected in court again the week of Sept. 17. Courtesy The Daily Record
