2 FT. Bragg soldiers charged in 17 yr old Vincent Carlisle Jr's death . Army Pvt. Sebastian Gamez, 20, of Hidalgo, TX, & Spc. Christopher Blackett, 20, of Vista, Calif., were each charged with first-degree murder & disposing of a corpse.

By MICHAEL BIESECKER - Associated Press | AP – 9 hrs ago

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This undated photo provided by the Harnett County Sheriff's Office shows Army Pvt. …

This undated photo provided by the Harnett County Sheriff's Office shows Army Spc. …
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SPRING LAKE, N.C. (AP) — The family of a 17-year-old boy whose slain body was found dumped in the woods near his home is searching for answers after a pair of soldiers at nearby Fort Bragg was charged with murder.

Army Pvt. Sebastian Gamez, 20, of Hidalgo, Texas, and Spc. Christopher Blackett, 20, of Vista, Calif., were each charged with first-degree murder and disposing of a corpse, the Harnett County Sheriff's Office said.

Sheriff's officials have released no information about how Vincent Carlisle Jr. died or a possible motive for his killing.

Both men lived at the same Spring Lake house and were being held without bond at the county's jail, the sheriff's office said. Spring Lake is a town of about 8,000 residents less than a mile from an entrance gate at Fort Bragg.

Both paratroopers worked as truck drivers and are members of Alpha Company, 82nd Brigade Support Battalion, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne spokesman Staff Sgt. Andrew Alfano said. They both enlisted in 2009 and had been stationed at Fort Bragg since 2010. Neither has been deployed to a war zone.

Carlisle's body was found Thursday afternoon, almost four days after he left his home Sunday night, family members said. Blackett and Gamez had moved in next door about six months ago.
"Vincent was a good kid: happy, jolly," said Pamela Marks, a family friend visiting with Carlisle's grief-stricken relatives. "It's just senseless."

Shawn Chavis, a cousin of Carlisle's, said the family was at a loss to explain what had happened, and that no one knew of any disagreement or bad blood between the teenager and his neighbors.
"He went missing Sunday and on Monday, they (the soldiers) waved to them like nothing had happened," Chavis said of the family.

Located in a quiet cul-de-sac off busy Bragg Boulevard, Carlisle's home stands about 20 feet from where the soldiers were living. A basketball hoop stands in Carlisle's back yard, testament to his dreams of playing for the University of North Carolina one day.

The neighborhood is full of rental properties, and it's common for people to come and go, neighbors said.

No one who answered the door at the soldiers' home, which had a large "Beware of Dog" sign in the front.

Carlisle had attended Overhills High School in Spring Lake but transferred to a school about 30 miles north because he wanted to break out of a social circle that didn't value education, said Melanie Stewart, principal of Johnathan's House Christian School in Fuquay-Varina. Carlisle was entering his senior year of school, and was planning to tour the UNC campus in Chapel Hill this week, Stewart told The Associated Press.

"He was trying to change," Stewart said. "He said, 'I want to show my mom. I want to show everyone I can do this.'"

Carlisle had poor grades upon entering her school, but Stewart said he rapidly improved. She plans to present his family with a posthumously-awarded diploma and graduation cap and gown.
"I've been doing this for 22 years and I've never lost a student," Stewart said. "Every day when he'd leave me, he'd go back into that neighborhood. It was the neighborhood that got him."

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Published: 10:33 PM, Fri Aug 19, 2011
2 Fort Bragg soldiers charged with murdering Spring Lake teenager

The body of 17-year-old Vincent Carlisle Jr., who had been missing since Sunday, was found in woods near the Harnett County line.

By James Halpin and Nancy McCleary
Staff writers

LILLINGTON - Two Fort Bragg soldiers accused of killing a Spring Lake teenager who lived next door dumped his body in woods to avoid detection, according to court documents released Friday.

Spc. Christopher Roger Blackett, 20, and Pvt. Sebastian Gamez , 20, both of the 100 block of Carmichael Lane in Spring Lake, were charged Thursday night with first-degree murder and disposing of a corpse, according to the Harnett County Sheriff's Office.

The body of 17-year-old Vincent Edwin Carlisle Jr. was discovered about 2:10 p.m. Thursday in a thickly wooded area along an empty stretch of Shady Grove Road, off N.C. 210, just north of Spring Lake.

"It's a hurtful feeling," Carlisle's father, Vincent Carlisle Sr., said Friday. "Everybody's heart is broken. Even mine is because he was my youngest son."

Investigators haven't said anything about how or why Carlisle was killed, saying they would likely release more information next week after an autopsy has been completed.

Deputies told the family that the men admitted to killing Carlisle, but family members haven't been told why, Carlisle Sr. said.

The family last saw Carlisle about 10 p.m. Sunday when he stepped outside his Carmichael Lane home and said he would be back in a minute. He never returned.

Family members grew worried that something had happened because he wasn't picking up his phone or replying to text messages. But before they could report him missing, deputies arrived at the house on Monday to inform them Carlisle had been involved in a "scuffle," Carlisle Sr. said.

The investigators asked for a description of his son and when he was last seen, he said. It wasn't clear how investigators learned of the altercation.

Gamez wrote on his Facebook page Tuesday afternoon that he was in trouble, prompting family members to reply to show their support.

"Only he whom I don't know existence can help me now... Give me strength look into my eyes," Gamez wrote.

Gamez's and Blackett's families declined to comment Friday.

Both are members of Company A, 82nd Brigade Support Battalion, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, according to Sgt. Joseph Guenther, a division spokesman. The men are truck drivers.

Gamez, who is from Hidalgo, Texas, joined the Army in November 2009 and was assigned to the 82nd in May 2010, Guenther said.

Blackett is from Vista, Calif., and enlisted in September 2009, Guenther said. Blackett was assigned to the 82nd in March 2010.

Neither soldier has been deployed overseas, Guenther said.

Carlisle's family says the men were roommates living next door for the past six months or so. The neighbors seemed friendly enough, mostly coming and going from work and keeping to themselves, Carlisle Sr. said.

Carlisle Jr. knew the men somewhat and would talk with them and sometimes play basketball with them, according to his family.

"Them guys next door, they knew my son and they knew us," Carlisle Sr. said. "So there was no confrontation or anything else like that between us, as far as I knew, anyway."

The soldiers are being held at the Harnett County Detention Center without bail. Their next court appearance is scheduled for Sept. 6.

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(CBS/AP) SPRING LAKE, N.C. - Two soldiers in Fort Bragg's 82nd Airborne Division have been charged with killing a North Carolina teen and dumping his body.
Pvt. Sebastian Gamez and Spc. Christopher Blackett are both 20 years old.

82nd Airborne spokesman Staff Sgt. Andrew Alfano said Friday they're both truck drivers.

Both men are jailed on first-degree murder charges after authorities found the body of 17-year-old Vincent Carlisle Jr. in a wooded area north of his hometown of Spring Lake, just north of the Army post.

The body is being sent to the state medical examiner in Chapel Hill for an autopsy.

Both soldiers were held Friday without bond at the Harnett County Detention Center.

Deputies from Harnett and Cumberland Counties found the body of Carlisle four days after he left home and did not return.

Melanie Stewart, principal of Johnathan's House Christian School in Fuquay-Varina, N.C., told CBS Affiliate WRAL that Carlisle had transferred there and was a rising senior in the Class of 2012.

She said Carlisle had transferred from Overhills High in Spring Lake after being subjected to peer pressure there from those who felt "it wasn't cool to do good in school," Stewart told WRAL.

Stewart said Carlisle was looking forward to school, wanting to break away from a crowd he felt wasn't going anywhere.

"Vincent Carlisle was a very intelligent young man, and he had dreams, and he had plans," she said.

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What in the world happened there?

10/27/2011

SPRING LAKE, N.C. – There is new information about how a 17-year-old from Spring Lake was killed in August.

Autopsy reports show Vincent Carlisle Jr. died from multiple gunshot wounds to the back and stomach. Officials also found alcohol in his system.

Neighbors say Carlisle and two suspects who lived next door got into an argument. Days later they say two soldiers admitted to the crime.

Fort Bragg soldiers Pvt. Sebastian Gamez and Spc. Christopher Blackett were charged with first-degree murder, failure to report a death and secretly disposing of a body.

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