When neighbors in Raeford, North Carolina, saw police tape at Connie Linen’s home, it shocked them. The 68-year-old grandmother seemed to live a normal life with a loving family, but something evidently went wrong inside Linen’s home. Deputies from the Lee County Sheriff’s Office found Linen dead on October 30, 2025. But that wasn’t the most shocking discovery. Investigators later identified her 13-year-old grandson as the prime suspect in her death, and prosecutors pursued murder charges.
Investigators began looking for the teen and allegedly found him in Linen’s stolen car behind an abandoned mobile home, according to a news release from the Lee County Sheriff’s Office. When they approached him, the teen ran off. Sadly, police say he became aggressive and things took a deadly turn.
“During the pursuit, the suspect retrieved a piece of 2×4 lumber from the yard of a nearby residence and charged toward a deputy. In close proximity, the deputy discharged his weapon, striking the suspect,” the release explains. “Deputies immediately rendered life-saving aid; however, the suspect was pronounced deceased at the scene.”
Clifford Corvill told ABC 11 that the news of Linen’s death and her grandson’s involvement came as a complete shock.
“Everybody seemed pretty happy. I can’t even imagine how this happened truthfully,” he said. “I never once saw any of the kids angry about anything. They just seemed like happy, normal kids.”
Kyshayla Mclean, the suspect’s sister, offered an explanation, sharing some information about her brother’s mental health struggles. She stated on Facebook that her brother suffered for years at the hands of his parents.
“Folks have kids for lust then toss them to the side like they are nothing. And before y’all get in here tryna tell me what I should or shouldn’t do understand I am the oldest of 11 and I cannot do but so much when I am not their parents and I have my own life and kids to raise with no help nor guidance from a mother nor father myself,” she wrote in her post. “I have tried for years to be the best sister to them even going as far as tryna get custody of some of them And the system and their mother and my father failed them every time.”
Mclean made it clear she did not condone what happened to Linen. Instead, she blamed her parents and the authorities for not helping the family sooner.
“Hold y’all families close, take mental health and depression more serious and let go of petty s— keeping you from people you love before you wake up to something like this. My siblings lost their grandmother and our youngest brother in the same day…I don’t wanna talk, I don’t want pity, but stop labeling my baby brother when y’all don’t know a f— thing! Thank you kindly,” she wrote.
It sounds like this family had many issues, and the shooter may not have gotten the support he needed. Mental health care is just as essential as physical care. If it’s not taken seriously, tragedies like this can occur.
The Lee County Sheriff’s Office reported the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation will investigate the case following standard protocol in an officer-involved shooting.
