LUMBERTON — Relatives of the late Ronnie Locklear are preparing for a day they never thought would come, the trial of two men charged with his murder 17 years ago.
When Locklear’s daughter, Nichole Henderson, heard the news she was overjoyed and moved to tears.
“It was like a burden I had carried around for years had been lifted,” she said.
Sheriff Burnis Wilkins announced on April 9 that his recently established Cold Case Investigations Unit made its first arrests. Wilkins said during a press conference that Larkie Lowry, 61, of Oakgrove Church Road in Lumberton and Jimmy Ray Oxendine, 55, of Bollinger Avenue in Lumberton had been charged in the Red Springs man’s murder.
Oxendine surrendered to sheriff’s deputies. Lowry was arrested without incident at his residence. The two men were charged with first-degree murder and felony conspiracy charges.
According to investigators, Locklear was shot in his yard by someone standing in the woods near his home. The shooting occurred after a dispute over a card game, Wilkins said.
“I’m coming for justice. I want justice for my brother,” Sherry Emanuel said of day she faces the two suspects in court.
Although news of the arrests was welcomed, it has opened an old wound, said Emanuel. It felt as if she was reliving the pain of her brother’s death.
“I’m angry. I’m hurt and my heart is crushed. It’s like somebody snatched my heart out,” Emanuel said.
The news offered a sense of peace, but she will not find closure until the men are behind bars, the sister said.
“All I want is closure and peace for my brother. I don’t hate them (the suspects), I’m just angry. I don’t hate them. I forgive them and I pray for them and I love them and I forgive them,” she said.
But seeing them sentenced will have a big effect on her life.
“Once the sentence is served on them, then that book can be closed and I can live my life,” Emanuel said.
Tammy Locklear, a family friend, described the day the family will face the suspects in court as an emotional day for Emanuel and the family.
“It’s going to be devastating,” she said.
But, she hopes that Emanuel gets the closure she has been living without for the last 17 years, Locklear said.
Emanuel was checking a news app on her phone when she saw the news. Shortly afterward, she heard Locklear shouting “Sherry, they got them!”
Locklear said she received a call in which she was told an arrest had been made and another arrest warrant would be served.
“The closure was beginning ,” Locklear said of that day.
Ronnie Locklear was a good-hearted man who had many friends, according to Locklear and Emanuel.
Henderson said her father was blunt and sometimes ornery, but she remembers him as a loud comedian and dramatic storyteller who could make her laugh until she cried.
Her father was beginning to make positive changes in his life, and Lowry and Oxendine have since turned their lives around, Henderson said.
“I wish they had not taken my daddy,” she said. “I’m all for change, especially positive change, but my daddy was in the process of change. I think he wanted to change for the better and they took that from him.”
Henderson said she is in the process of forgiving Oxendine and Lowry, as her faith dictates.
“Without forgiveness, I won’t be free,” she said.
Henderson wrestled with the death of her father for seven years. She turned to “rebellion” and drinking to cope with the pain, Henderson said. It wasn’t until she moved states away that she could grieve properly.
“Being a part of positive things, church, the Bible … I think for me, it’s probably what pulled me through,” she said.
She still remembers the image of her father’s face, penetrated by a bullet, but not totally disfigured, Henderson said.
“Every single day that image was in my mind,” she said.
Henderson said she is thankful for the efforts of Sheriff Wilkins and Maj. Damien McLean and hopes this case inspires others to come forward to help the Cold Case Investigations Unit solve other cases.
Knowing that “someone actually cared enough” to reopen Locklear’s case meant a lot to her, Henderson said.
