GREENSBORO, N.C. — A Triad family is very confused after Greensboro police initially said 21-year-old William Murphy died in a car crash on the Urban Loop on April 25. Now, his death is being investigated as a murder, leaving the family heartbroken and devastated.
The family said Murphy's girlfriend was in the car with him and witnessed their morning drive turn deadly.
"You see your baby brother lying there, gone already," Murphy's sister Alison Bartley shared.
Murphy was rushed to the emergency room after he crashed on the Greensboro Urban Loop.
Last week, Greensboro police said they got to the scene and found a black Grand Prix mangled in a single-vehicle crash.
"He loved everyone; he didn't meet a stranger. He was a kind-hearted person. The fact that you can almost deal with it being a car accident but him being shot — it makes it worse," Murphy's grandfather Norman Aldridge said.
Aldridge said he thought it was just a bad wreck, but when he got to the hospital, detectives told him Murphy was shot in the head before crashing.
He was kept on life support for three days.
"We spent as much time as we could with him at the hospital. Saturday night, they had the March for Life for him being a donor. The nurses lined the hall, and we pulled him down the hall. It was tough," Aldridge shared.
Police said they're still trying to piece together what led to Murphy's death, but after talking with Murphy's girlfriend, who was in the car, Bartley said she believes he was racing because that's what he loved to do.
"He had his girlfriend in the car. It wasn't a full-on race; he gave him a little smoke, slowed down, and said, 'That was sweet, huh?' He went to roll the window up, and then the car - he lost control of the car," Bartley said.
"He pulled beside him and shot him," Aldridge finished.
Police are searching for the shooter.
They encourage folks to contact them if they have dashcam video or images of a black Pontiac Grand Prix and a red sedan, possibly a Honda Civic, speeding down I-40 from the Graham area heading toward Greensboro on April 25 between 9 a.m. and 10:30 a.m.
To bring a sense of peace, the family is pleading with folks to come forward.
"I have to explain to four kids what happened to their uncle. It's been very hard. It's a cruel world. That's what we have to face in the world we're living in today," Bartley cried.