LINCOLNTON, N.C. - A Lincoln County Superior Court jury found a Lincoln County man guilty of first degree murder and possession of a weapon of mass destruction on November 24, 2021.

Ronald Wayne Vaughn, Jr., 29, of Wildale Lane, Lincolnton, NC was then sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Deputies were dispatched to 1311 Wildale Lane, Lincolnton, NC around 11 p.m. on August 25, 2017 after the Lincoln County Communications Center received a call about a shooting incident.

Deputies arrived to find the suspect at the residence and the victim in a car in the backyard. Gary Lee Somerset, 27, of 1311 Wildale Lane, Lincolnton, NC had been shot in the chest and neck at close range with a sawed off shotgun. Somerset was pronounced dead at the scene.

Ronald Wayne Vaughn, Jr., also of 1311 Wildale Lane, Lincolnton, NC at the time, was taken into custody without incident at the scene. Detective Justin Link interviewed Vaughn at the Sheriff’s Office where he confessed to shooting Somerset with the shotgun which was recovered at the scene.

Vaughn is being held in the Harven A. Crouse Detention Center awaiting transport to the North Carolina Department of Corrections.