LAURINBURG — Two suspects in a Scotland County homicide were taken into custody southwest of Hamlet on Friday.
According to the Scotland County Sheriff’s Office, 28-year-old Trevor Gage Cook and 28-year-old Kristen Paige Vuncannon, both of Bennettsville, South Carolina, were wanted in connection to weekend homicide.
(NOTE: There is a discrepancy on the age and address of Cook between a press release and the arrest warrant. The RO used the age from the warrant and the address from the press release. Cook also has an address listed in Laurel Hill.)
Deputies reportedly found the body of Kevin Hopkins, known as “K-Hop,” inside a vehicle parked in a field off Railroad Street in Gibson the morning of Sunday, Feb. 1
Investigators believe Hopkins was killed the previous day in the area of Skipper Road, southwest of Laurel Hill near the state line.
The suspects were reportedly identified following “an extensive investigation” by SCSO’s Criminal Investigations Division with help from the N.C. State Bureau of Investigation, the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division and the Marlboro County Sheriff’s Office.
The two were apprehended without incident Feb. 6 in a trailer park off Battley Dairy Road by the Richmond County Sheriff’s Office’s Special Response Team.
Cook is accused of killing Hopkins, and Vuncannon allegedly helped Cook hide the body. Cook is also accused of stealing a 12-gauge shotgun.
Investigators have charged Cook with one count each of murder and larceny of a firearm. Cook and Vuncannon are both charged with destruction of a body/concealing an unnatural death.
The SCSO says both are being held without bond. Court records show Cook is being held without bond on the murder charge, a $10,000 on the firearm larceny charge, and a $15,000 for the destruction of a body charge; and Vuncannon was given a $15,000 secured bond. They are scheduled to appear in court Feb. 9.
Investigators say the case remains active and additional charges may be forthcoming.
Anyone with information on the case is encouraged to call the SCSO Criminal Investigations Division at 910-266-4332.
The SCSO, in a press release, thanked the aforementioned agencies for their assistance in the case.
The defendants appear to have no other pending charges or prior convictions in the state.
All defendants facing criminal charges are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
