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LUMBERTON, N.C. — A 29-year-old man is behind bars, charged with first-degree murder in the shooting death of a mother of six while driving down Interstate 95 in Lumberton.
Dejywan Floyd, 29, of Lumberton, was arrested early Thursday at an apartment complex, the Robeson County Sherriff’s Office said in a news release.
Julie Eberly, 47, was riding in the passenger seat with her husband on March 25. The couple, who are from Pennsylvania, were on their way to Hilton Head Island to celebrate their wedding anniversary.
Floyd is charged in the fatal shooting of Julie Eberly, 47, of Manheim, Pennsylvania. The arrest comes a week after Eberly was killed when shots were fired from a car on Interstate 95, just north of Lumberton, as Eberly and her husband were driving to the beach to celebrate their wedding anniversary. Ryan Eberly was not injured.
The sheriff’s office said an investigation revealed a road rage encounter unknowingly developed after the victim’s GMC Yukon came close to Floyd’s Chevrolet Malibu during a merge into a lane. Floyd then allegedly pulled to the victim’s passenger side, where Julie Eberly was seated, rolled down his window and fired multiple shots into the passenger door. Witnesses said the suspect then drove off. Ryan Eberly was not injured.
Ryan Eberly said he changed lanes and accidentally forced the other driver off the road.
”I saw in my mirror that he was passing us to the right and gunshots were fired, our car was hit. My wife yelled my name. I asked if she was hit and she said ‘yes,’” Ryan Eberly said.
Julie Eberly was taken to UNC Southeastern where she later died.
Floyd has served several prison terms over the last decade for assault with a deadly weapon, breaking and entering, possession of a firearm by a felon and other charges, according to state prison records.