Help solve a crime, give closure to grieving mother

On Monday Joyce Hankins stood in front of reporters and asked for one thing. 

TV cameras rolled, reporters feverishly took notes and photos as Hankins, surrounded by her family, asked for someone, anyone, to come forward with information about the April 16 shooting death of her son, South Brunswick High School football star Marcus London Hankins. 

Hankins was killed around 1 a.m. April 16 at a private birthday party at Democratic headquarters on Old Ocean Highway in Bolivia. 

Sheriff’s detectives, who have made no arrests, have released little information about the shooting.

We don’t know much about the incidents that took place late that night and early into the next morning when Hankins was shot and killed. 

But here’s what we do know: A 19-year-old high school senior was killed. Killed. Not beaten up, not hospitalized, but killed.

Joyce Hankins should be preparing her son for graduation and moving onto the next chapter of his life. Instead, she buried her son and now pleads with the public for any information that can help catch her son’s killer or killers. 

We’ve listened to the 911 tapes. Many people were at that birthday party. Someone saw something. Someone heard something. Someone knows who pulled the trigger of that fatal shot.

Someone can bring a sense of peace to Joyce Hankins, even if it won’t bring her son back. 

If you know something—if you have any information about the shooting or any of the events that took place that night—call the sheriff’s office or your local police department. 

You never know what piece of information, no matter how small or insignificant it may seem, might end up being the missing piece of the puzzle that solves Marcus Hankins’ murder. 

There’s a monetary award available for information that leads to an arrest and conviction in the case, though we believe bringing Joyce Hankins some closure should be reward enough. 

Call the sheriff’s office at (910) 253-2777 or call your local police department. 

You can even leave anonymous tips online at www.brunswicksheriff.com. 

Joyce Hankins has already received the worst phone call a parent could imagine. 

Someone out there has the power to bring a grieving mother some closure.

 Don’t miss this opportunity.