A homecoming weekend celebration at Winston-Salem State University ended with one student dead and a 20-year-old now behind bars facing murder charges.
Quick Take
- Winston-Salem Police arrested Ziyaire Antonyo Spinks, 20, and charged him with murder in the shooting death of 19-year-old Peyton Izaia Patterson.
- Officers found Patterson shot on campus near South Martin Luther King Jr. Drive around 9:46 p.m. and could not save him.
- 22-year-old Alyssa Janae Ellerbee was also hurt in the same shooting.
- A second man, 18-year-old Cequan Warren Brower, faces a lesser affray charge tied to the broader weekend violence.
- Police say the campus shooting was isolated, even as a separate shooting happened elsewhere during the same homecoming weekend.
What Police Say Happened On Campus
Winston-Salem Police officers rushed to the 600 block of South Martin Luther King Jr. Drive on the Winston-Salem State University campus around 9:46 p.m. during homecoming weekend. They found Peyton Izaia Patterson, 19, shot and bleeding. Officers and medics tried to save him, but he died at the scene. Investigators also identified 22-year-old Alyssa Janae Ellerbee as injured in the same incident.
Assistant Chief Jason Swaim told reporters the investigation led detectives straight to a suspect. That suspect, 20-year-old Ziyaire Antonyo Spinks, was arrested and is now held without bond. Police charged him with murder, assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill or inflict serious injury, and felony possession of a firearm on educational property. Those are serious, specific charges that show detectives believe they built a strong case quickly.
A Second Suspect Faces A Lesser Charge
Police also charged 18-year-old Cequan Warren Brower with affray, a charge related to fighting in public, and set his bond at $50,000. His exact role in the night’s events has not been spelled out in public reporting. Affray charges typically point to a physical altercation rather than a shooting itself, suggesting Brower’s alleged conduct differs sharply from the murder accusation against Spinks.
Detectives say they determined the campus shooting was an isolated incident, even as they kept investigating the full circumstances. That matters because the same homecoming weekend also saw a separate shooting near the university, part of a string of three shootings reported that Saturday, including one at Hanes Mall. Early wire reports noted it was too soon to say whether the incidents were connected, underscoring why police treated them as distinct cases from the start.
Why Homecoming Weekends Carry Extra Risk
National data helps explain why campus safety concerns spike during homecoming. A recent Everytown Research analysis of 389 campus shootings over a decade found that gun homicides and assaults, not planned mass shootings, made up over half of all campus shooting intents. Many shooters and victims in these cases had no official tie to the university at all, meaning the campus itself was simply the backdrop for a dispute rooted elsewhere.
The same research found Historically Black Colleges and Universities represented roughly 29 percent of identified campus firearm incidents, despite making up only about 2 percent of American colleges and universities. Separate reporting found that of those 389 incidents studied, 36 happened specifically during homecoming weekends. That pattern doesn’t excuse what happened at Winston-Salem State, but it does show this tragedy fits a documented and troubling trend rather than standing as an isolated anomaly nationally.
What Comes Next For The Accused
Spinks is expected to appear in court as the case moves forward, and prosecutors will need to lay out their evidence publicly as proceedings continue. An arrest and criminal charges are serious allegations, but they remain accusations until tested in court. Winston-Salem State University students and families deserve a transparent legal process that honors Peyton Patterson’s memory while giving the accused his constitutional right to a fair hearing.
For a campus community that should have been celebrating tradition and school pride, the weekend instead became defined by gunfire and grief. Patterson’s death, and Ellerbee’s injuries, are reminders that safety on campus cannot be taken for granted, especially during high-attendance events that draw large crowds from both inside and outside the student body.
Sources:
abcnews.com, wfdd.org, whio.com, cbs17.com, wxii12.com, journals.sagepub.com, kff.org
