Search Warrant: Two People Fired Guns Into Car Killing Harley Shirley

CLAYTON – A copy of a search warrant just obtained by The Johnston County Report is shedding new light on a double shooting last month that killed a Clayton man and left a woman paralyzed. Harley Alexander Shirley, 21, was shot and killed. Sophie Hagy, 20, was shot in the spine and is paralyzed from the waist down.

On February 17th at 7:58pm, the Johnston County Sheriff’s Office began receiving multiple 911 calls from 1631 Josephine Road reporting a shooting. Deputies quickly arrived on the scene.

According to the search warrant obtained by Detective J. Harrell with the Johnston County Sheriff’s Office, “Deputies arrived on the scene and learned that 5 people were sitting in a 2017 Volkswagen Jetta… It was reported that two suspects opened fire on the Volkswagen Jetta while it was occupied by five people.”

Shirley was sitting in the rear seat. Hagy was sitting in the middle back seat.

Two of the occupants in the car exited the vehicle after the shooting. A female in the driver’s seat drove away from the scene and traveled through a ditch causing front end damage to the Jetta. The driver took the two injured passengers to the Sheetz convenience store on Highway 42 West at Cornwallis Road.

Shirley died from his injuries in the store parking lot. Hagy was rushed to WakeMed.

The search warrant indicated a number of items were seized from the car including four fired projectiles, a pink stun gun, metal fragments, a two-page letter, four blood swabs, and a tan Nike hat with three defects and apparent blood.

Several people have been charged in connection with the shooting. Two teenagers, ages 16 and 17, are charged with murder and attempted murder. Their names have not been released because they are juveniles.

Diana Sarah Jackson, 38, of Garner has been charged with obstruction of justice. Cassidy Lorene Hunter, 21, of Smithfield is charged with accessory after the fact.

Ferrell Nicholas Jackson, 19, of Garner was charged March 12th with obstruction of justice. He was held on a $100,000 bond.

The search warrant did not indicate a possible motive. The deadly shooting took place during a wake for a teenager who had recently died in a traffic accident.