Family hopes to find answers in Anson County man’s death

WADESBORO, N.C. — The family of an Anson County man who was shot and killed last year still does not know much about what happened.

Masson Sanderson graduated from Wadesboro High School in 2021 and his mom remembers when he got his new car.

“Oh my God, he loved that Charger,” said Raven Lillie, his mother.

Lillie got a call from the Anson County Sheriff’s Office that her son had been in a wreck on the night of Oct. 22, 2021, along Highway 52 in Morven.

Investigators learned it was more than a car crash. There were bullet holes in Sanderson’s beloved Charger.

“I wouldn’t wish that on nobody,” Lillie said. “It’s absolutely horrifying.”

Anson County Sheriff’s Office Lt. Brian Tice is part of a team investigating Sanderson’s homicide.

“The suspects followed our victim to a remote area of the county and at that time, open fired on his vehicle,” Tice said. “We believe two different weapons were used in this crime.”

Surveillance videos from around Wadesboro show a white vehicle following Sanderson that night.

Investigators don’t think Sanderson had any idea he was being followed.

Tice said they found the abandoned GMC Acadia that had been stolen from Gaston County about a month before.

Detectives hope someone knows something about that vehicle because they can’t find anyone with a motive to kill Sanderson.

“There was nothing that pointed any fingers to anyone,” Tice said.

The mystery surrounding Sanderson’s death continues in Anson County.

Masson has a young son that will now grow up without a father.

“Every picture he sees of my son, he says, ‘Dada. Dada,’” Lillie said. “He knows him, and I just hope he never forgets him.”

Family members hope the boy will share his father’s story which ends with justice when he is old enough.

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