A quiet Fayetteville neighborhood was jolted early Sunday when 23-year-old Chris’Shawn Ahmad Sewell was fatally stabbed outside the Circle K on the 8000 block of Cliffdale Road in the pre-dawn hours of January 11, 2026. Sewell died later at Cape Fear Valley Medical Center after officers and emergency crews found him with a life-threatening stab wound in the store’s parking lot just before 4 a.m.
Detectives with the Fayetteville Police Department’s Homicide Unit say Sewell was involved in a confrontation with Chaniece Natasha Starks, a 32-year-old Circle K employee on duty at the time of the incident. Police believe an argument between the two escalated into a physical altercation that ended in Sewell being stabbed.
People who knew Sewell described him as familiar with the store and its employees, having interacted there before. Starks and Sewell were not strangers; both had prior encounters at the Circle K, according to investigators.
Authorities have charged Starks with first-degree murder, and she is being held without bond at the Cumberland County Detention Center. Court records show she was scheduled for an afternoon hearing the day after the incident.
Sewell’s family has been notified of his death, and the community is mourning a young life cut short. Friends and neighbors say Sewell was known in the area and had a presence in Fayetteville’s social circles.
Police stress that the case remains active as investigators continue to piece together exactly what led to the deadly confrontation. Detectives are urging anyone who witnessed events leading up to the stabbing, or who knows details that could aid the investigation, to come forward.
Tip lines have been set up for anonymous information: Fayetteville/Cumberland County Crime Stoppers can be reached at (910) 483-TIPS (8477) or through an online form and the P3 Tips app. Detective B. Ramirez is the lead investigator on the case.
