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Suspect In Mount Tabor High School Shooting Identified

The community mourned the death of William Chavis Raynard Miller Jr. during a prayer vigil at Mount Tabor United Methodist Church on Thursday, September 2, 2021. KERI BROWN/WFDD

The suspect in the Mount Tabor High School shooting has been identified and will face murder charges.

Forsyth County District Attorney Jim O'Neill said at a juvenile court hearing Thursday that the alleged shooter is 15-year-old Maurice T. Evans Jr. The victim, William Chavis Raynard Miller Jr., was killed September 1. The Winston-Salem Journal reports that both were students at the school. 

O'Neill said at the hearing that the dispute was not a random act of violence and tensions had been simmering between the two. 

Evans will likely be tried as an adult in Forsyth County Superior Court and is charged with murder. A judge will determine on Tuesday if there is enough evidence to show that a crime was committed and that Evans carried out the crime. If the determination is yes, Evans will be tried as an adult. 

O'Neill says Evans shot Miller outside a classroom and later placed a gun in a trash can on school grounds. He also said the entire incident was caught on security cameras. O'Neill did not say what the dispute was about between the two but did say that earlier in the summer, Evans was allegedly shot. He did not say who shot him, and the extent of his injuries isn't known. 

These are the first details released about the investigation. Previously, Forsyth County Sheriff Bobby Kimbrough and Winston-Salem Police Chief Catrina Thompson declined to comment on the case. 

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