UPDATE: The victim in Sunday night's shooting, Amie Heath, has passed away. Shy'mecca Epps and the 17-year-old juvenile will each be charged with an open count of murder.

New article:

Sunday night’s shooting incident started with a minor traffic accident in which the parties involved — Shy’mecca Epps and the 17-year-old juvenile and the victim (Amie Heath) and her boyfriend — agreed to settle between themselves and exchange money. 

During the exchange, there was a disagreement between the parties and the victim and her boyfriend left the accident scene and went home to the 3700 block of N.C. 55. As they pulled into their driveway, the suspects allegedly shot and hit the victim in the head.

This incident remains under investigation and there will be no further update(s) until the investigation is complete.

Previous article:

Two people — including a 17-year-old — are in custody after a woman was shot in the head Sunday night.

Lenoir County Sheriff’s Office deputies responded to the 3700 block of N.C. Hwy 55 West in Kinston Sunday at around 7:35 p.m. When they arrived on the scene, they found a 33-year-old female, Amie Danielle Heath, with a gunshot wound to the head. She was transported to ECU Health Medical Center in Greenville, where she is currently in critical condition.

Deputies on the scene collected detailed information about the suspects and the vehicle they were operating and disseminated that information to local law enforcement agencies. Very soon thereafter, a Kinston Police Department officer observed the vehicle near Skinners Bypass on U.S. 70 and radioed for assistance.

Officers with the KPD stopped the vehicle at the Hampton Inn in Kinston and took two suspects into custody; there were also two small children in the vehicle.

The first suspect is a 17-year-old Kinston male. The other suspect is Shy’mecca Epps, 24, of Kinston. Epps and the juvenile received the following charges:

• Two counts of attempted murder

• One count of discharging a weapon into an occupied vehicle

• One count of discharging a weapon into an occupied vehicle causing serious bodily injury

The juvenile was taken to a secured juvenile facility; Epps was placed in the Billy Smith Detention Center under a secured bond.

“I am very saddened about this situation and I offer my prayers for the victim and her family,” Lenoir County Sheriff Jackie Rogers said. “I am very, very grateful for the hard work of our deputies in this case. I’m also grateful and thankful for the incredible assistance of the officers of the Kinston Police Department for locating and taking the suspects into custody. This is an excellent example of great teamwork between our agencies.”