Grieving Raleigh widow seeks answers after deadly home invasion

RALEIGH, N.C. (WTVD) -- The wife of a man murdered in Raleigh, just over a year ago, is speaking exclusively to ABC11. Her husband was shot and killed during a home invasion and she's pleading for the public's help to bring the killers to justice.

Raleigh Police detectives are still actively trying to solve the murder of Vernon Jefferys. RPD pushed out a new video this week on social media hoping it leads to new clues.

"Vernon was a husband. He was a father. He was a son. And the pain we felt through this has been devastating," Jefferys' widow said.

Three-hundred and eighty-six days after the murder, this grieving widow is still living in fear. That's part of the reason she does not want to show her face on camera or use her first name. But, she wanted us all to hear her voice- a call for her husband's killer to be brought to justice.

"I relive this every day, every night," she said.

She can be heard on the chaotic and emotional call to 911 the night of Feb. 13, 2018, at the couple's home on Bakers Grove Way, which is just east of downtown Raleigh.

The nightmare began with a knock on the door. When she answered there were two men who pulled out guns. She said they ransacked the house. Then, one of the men pulls Vernon out to the parking lot while his wife and teenage son waited in terror.

"One of the guys was in the house with us and we heard a thump; a loud bump, and what happened was my husband was shot and hit the pole," she describes.

The 43-year-old husband and father was dead.

The two killers escaped in a white Nissan SUV that was captured on nearby surveillance.

The first suspect is described as a black man, about 6 feet tall, wearing a ski mask with shoulder-length dreadlocks.

A police sketch of the second suspect shows a light-skinned black male; five feet, eight inches, with close-cut hair.

"I remember these guys and they're still out there," Jefferys' widow said. "They are still out there and someone knows, and we just pray that someone comes forward and just helps us.

"It's the not knowing that is heartbreaking for my family. We just want to understand what happened, why, when, how," she said.

Vernon and his wife met when they were 13 years old. They were married just 38 days before the murder.

If you know anything that could help police crack this case, please call Raleigh Crimestoppers at 919-834-HELP or text 'raleightips' to 274637.