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Authorities identify two Va. motorcyclists who were fatally shot while riding in N.C.

BY SUSIE C. SPEAR RockinghamNow Jun 11, 2021 Updated 3 hrs ago

WENTWORTH — Authorities on Thursday identified the two motorcyclists killed last month in a shooting on U.S. 29 bypass in Reidsville as Virginia residents. ... Kwandre' Marcell Carey, 24, of Montross, Va., and Haneefa Fitzgerald, 42, of Fredericksburg, Va., were shot and killed as they rode along U.S. 29 on May 24, a spokesman for the Rockingham County Sheriff's Office said Thursday. ... Carey was pronounced dead at the scene and Fitzgerald died at an area hospital, the spokesman said in a news release.

Fitzgerald served in the U.S. Marines for 15 years before her retirement in 2015, according to a resume Fitzgerald published online via Wordpress, describing herself as a freelance journalist. An administrative assistant who dealt with human resources issues within her branch of service, Fitzgerald was awarded three U.S. Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medals and a Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal for her work, the resume said.

Another person riding with Carey and Fitzgerald was shot and is being treated at an area hospital. Sheriff Sam Page did not disclose the survivor's name out of concern for the rider's safety, the sheriff's office said.

On Wednesday afternoon, shooting suspect Martin Cox Jr., 41, of Browns Summit, who authorities said targeted the motorcyclists, was extradited to Rockingham County from a Kentucky jail to face charges in the shootings. ... The North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation's Flight Team assisted in bringing Cox from Kentucky to North Carolina, officials said in the release.

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Anyone with information should call 911, the sheriff’s office at 336-634-3232 or Rockingham County Crime Stoppers Hotline at 336-349-9683.