Carr An Ivanhoe man has been sentenced to life in prison in the killing of 20-year-old Jamaris Pridgen, whose body was found in June 2018 in a shallow grave in the Harrells area.
Lajona Demarrias Carr, 47, was convicted by a jury Tuesday of the first-degree murder of Pridgen, who died of a gunshot wound to the chest. Carr was also found guilty of robbery with a firearm and possession of firearm by a felon.
He was sentenced to life without the possibility of parole plus a minimum of 17 months and a maximum of 30 months to run at the expiration of the life without parole sentence. In North Carolina, a conviction of first-degree murder carries a mandatory minimum sentence of life without the possibility of parole. That sentence was handed down by Superior Court Judge Augustus D. Willis IV.
The trial began on June 3, 2024 in Sampson County Superior Court, almost exactly six years after Pridgen’s body was found by family members at a property on Wilbur Pridgen Road. District Attorney Ernie Lee discussed the case and his reaction in a statement released Friday.
Pridgen was last seen and heard from by his family on May 29, 2018, four days before his body was eventually found. Pridgen had called his mother to tell her that the truck he was driving had been shot at by someone he knew, a Hispanic male unrelated to Carr. He returned the truck to his grandfather and began driving a black Honda Accord. That same night, Pridgen and Carr exchanged texts, Carr indicated he wanted to buy Xanax from Pridgen.
Pridgen’s family never heard from him again.
They began to look for him the next day, receiving information on June 2 that he had been killed and put in the trunk of the black Honda Accord. Pridgen’s stepfather found the Honda Accord in a wooded area off CC Road in Sampson County. The car appeared to have been cleaned and smelled of gasoline. There was blood in the driver’s area and in the trunk, along with damage where a bullet exited the car. Pridgen was not in the car.
The family called law enforcement officers, who arrived and began to process the car and area for evidence. The family received information that Pridgen may have been taken to a property at the 600 block of Wilbur Pridgen Road in the Harrells area. They met with law enforcement and the property was searched.
Carr was seen at the Wilbur Pridgen Road property by two witnesses on May 30, 2018, and May 31, 2018. Carr sent texts stating he was at the property on those days, as well as on June 1. Two of Pridgen’s family members called Carr for information and he gave multiple accounts, including that he had seen Pridgen, that he had not seen Pridgen and that “Mexicans came back to shoot Jamaris.” Carr did indicate that he got Xanax from Pridgen.
The victim’s family returned to the property on Wilbur Pridgen Road on the evening of Saturday, June 2, 2018, and searched again for Pridgen — and this time, they found him.
“They located an area of dirt that appeared to have been disturbed and after removing just a shovelful of dirt, could see clothing that belonged to Jamaris that they recognized immediately,” the district attorney said in his description of the body’s discovery. “They stopped and called law enforcement, who secured the area overnight. On the morning of Sunday, June 3, 2018, an agent with the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation carefully excavated the gravesite, removing and sifting all the dirt within the grave. A T-shirt and a cigarette butt were in the grave with the victim.”
A witness testified that Carr was dropped off at her home on Trestle Road on the night of June 1, 2018. She said that he smelled bad, and she told him to take a shower. He then handed her a bag with his bloody boxer shorts and shorts and made her promise to burn them. She later turned the clothing over to law enforcement.
Carr was located on June 3, 2018, at an abandoned home on Trestle Road in Ivanhoe. Several items were in the home near him, including a 40-caliber handgun, a bag of Xanax and the victim’s watch. Carr was wearing Pridgen’s necklace, authorities said.
According to Independent reports at the time, Sampson County Sheriff’s deputies took Carr into custody, serving outstanding felony warrants in a Duplin County rape and kidnapping case, stemming from warrants issued in May 2017. He was given $1.2 million secured bond for those charges. He was subsequently charged in Pridgen’s murder.
An analyst from the North Carolina State Crime Lab testified during the trial this week that Carr’s DNA was on the handgun and Pridgen’s watch. She also testified that Carr and Pridgen’s DNA were included on the necklace. Several swabs taken from the black Honda Accord were positive for blood and showed that Pridgen’s DNA was on the driver’s seat belt, a pillar near the driver, the trunk latch, a tire from the trunk, and the spare tire cover from the trunk, as well as Carr’s bloody boxer shorts. Carr’s DNA was found on the cigarette butt from the grave.
Lee credited the many people involved in the case, including lead Detective Matthew Thornton of the Sampson County Sheriff’s Office, who was assisted by the criminal investigation division and the NC State Bureau of Investigation.Assistant District Attorneys Jennifer Barnes and Robert Thigpen prosecuted the case with the assistance of legal assistant Mckenzie Grady. Carr was represented by attorney Hayes Ludlum.
“Law enforcement and prosecutors worked extensively on this case to ensure that the case was prepared for trial and that justice was done,” Lee stated.
He noted the violent nature of the crime, as well as Carr’s status as a felon with a history of convictions in Sampson and Duplin, including counts of assault inflicting serious bodily injury, felony drug possession, injury to personal property, possession of firearm by felon and felonious restraint, court records show.
As diligent as Pridgen’s family was in seeking out his whereabouts when he went missing six years ago, they remained as steadfast in seeing justice served in Sampson County Superior Court this past week.
“Many family members were in court each day of the trial in support and memory of him,” Lee stated. “This defendant deserved the sentence of life without the possibility of parole for his violent crimes. Jamaris Pridgen was loved by his family and the loss of his life affects them deeply.”
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