Family of North Carolina murder victim outraged after her killer receives plea deal

FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. (WNCN) — The family of a Fayetteville murder victim is outraged after the killer is granted a plea deal.

In court on Tuesday, Dashawn McCullum pled guilty to killing his girlfriend, Maggie Fulmore. McCullum admitted to pulling the trigger, then dumping her body in a Fayetteville parking lot just after midnight on Halloween in 2021. Prosecutors said he killed Fulmore after an argument about money.

Thretha Chance, Fulmore’s mother, believes the justice system failed her family. McCullum was set to stand trial next week, but the Cumberland County District Attorney’s Office reached a plea deal with McCullum that dropped his first-degree murder charge to second-degree murder. A Cumberland County judge approved the lesser charge, which gives McCullum a minimum of 25 years in prison instead of life.

“[The district attorney] never sat down with me or my family to discuss a plea deal,” Chance said. “In less than 25 years, he is going to be out on the streets to do it again.”

No one was available for comment from Cumberland County District Attorney’s Office.

Next month will mark three years since Fulmore’s death. Her mother said she’s now shifted her energy to saving other victims of domestic violence.

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