Man charged with killing 3 family members in Wake County
The Wake County Sheriff’s Office and the Raleigh Police Department have charged a man with killing three of his apparent family members.
Evan Hunter Small, 27, has been charged with three counts of murder and felony larceny of a motor vehicle. He is being held in the Wake County Detention Center.
He is accused of killing Patricia Brewton Small, 79, Jimmy Wayne Small Sr., 80, and Jimmy Wayne Small Jr., 58, who a 911 caller called “Sandy.”
Evan Small was arrested after a brief chase close to Wake Forest, during which he struck a Raleigh police officer’s car, the Sheriff’s Office said in a news release. The release did not describe the relationship between the suspect and those killed or the victims’ relationships to one another.
The News & Observer asked police and the sheriff’s office how Small is related to the victims, but had not received a response as of Tuesday night.
911 call leads investigators to house
A 911 caller requested police check on Patricia, Jimmy and Sandy Small July 13, according to audio of the call provided by the Raleigh Police Department.
“We used to talk two or three times a week,” the caller said about Patricia. “And sometimes twice in a day. We don’t go long.”
The caller said they tried calling Patricia Small on Friday, then tried calling Jimmy and Sandy Small. None of them answered the phone, the 911 called said. The caller tried instant messaging Patricia Small Sunday and called again on Monday. The caller said they even tried calling Jimmy Small at his business, Hamco of Raleigh, a business supply company he owned on Fairview Road in Raleigh. The caller could not reach any of them.
“I fear something’s wrong,” the caller said.
Police were dispatched Monday to a home on Bentley Meadow Lane, where they found the body of Patricia Small. A follow-up investigation found Jimmy Small Sr., also dead, on Fairview Road.
“The incidents are not random, and there is not an on-going public safety concern,” the Raleigh Police Department said in a news release before Evan Small’s arrest.
The Sheriff’s Office said deputies conducting a welfare check at a home on Alta Vista Court around 11:30 p.m. Monday saw the body of a man, later identified as Jimmy Small Jr., through the window.
Evan Small has been charged six times since September 2019, on drug charges, driving under the influence, misdemeanor larceny and failure to appear, according to police records.
He was found guilty in March of felony possession of heroin in Wake County from an incident in August.
He had pending felony drug charges from December in Granville County.
This story was originally published July 14, 2020 at 2:54 PM with the headline "Man charged with killing 3 family members in Wake County."