ELIZABETH CITY, N.C. — The Elizabeth City Police Department is investigating the deaths of three men, all found dead within 1.5 miles of each other this weekend.
One man was shot and killed, another found dead in a home, and a third found dead in a street intersection.
Police have not said whether the three homicides are connected.
"Those three souls are gone, there's no coming back," Elizabeth City resident Joyce Overton said. "It's nothing that should be happening in little Elizabeth City, we're like a family."
Another person, Alonzo Cephas, said he saw 19-year-old Dominque Daguizen ride his bike into a church parking lot on South Road Street on Saturday afternoon. Then, he saw Daguizen had been shot in the stomach.
“It looked like it exited his back and all I could do is pray for him, I’m not a medic or physician," Cephas said.
Police say Daguizen was airlifted to the hospital but he died from his injuries.
"We need to be more respectful for each other, start caring for each other and loving each other," Cephas said. "If you have an issue with a person take it out on the basketball court, grab a mic and start rapping, do something productive and positive. These lives that we’re losing don’t make sense.”
An hour later, police found 29-year-old Jeremy Floyd dead in a house on Herrington Road, just a half mile down the street.
Just after midnight on Sunday morning, police found a third man dead in the intersection of North Road Street and Cypress Street. Police say the victim, 22-year-old Cody Turner, died.
“That’s unheard of and we need change, we’re looking for a difference, we need better, and if the community can come together as one unit and show that love, that’s what we need," Overton said.
Overton said the violent weekend is both insane and scary.
“We need a change of character amen for the better not for the worse.”
Elizabeth City Police did not say how Floyd or Turner died.