3 years after Beatties Ford Road shooting, still no arrests as frustration mounts

Beatties Ford Road hasn’t changed much since Jamaa Cassell was shot and killed there three years ago, his father says.

“Long as we’ve been here, have you seen any police cars?” Charles Billings asked a reporter about an hour into a discussion at the memorial site. “Not one. Not a one.”

Billings’ son was one of four people killed in a shooting and subsequent mayhem at an impromptu Juneteenth and Father’s Day block party on June 22, 2020. Kelly Miller, Christopher Gleaton and Dairyon Stevenson were also killed.

There’s a small plaque commemorating victims on the corner of Beatties Ford and Catherine Simmons Avenue. But there’s still no meaningful relationship between the community and the police, Billings said.

Video released by CMPD about five months later showed two men opening fire as a crowd sprinted away. Investigators found more than 180 shell casings, and said there were at least 10 guns linked to the shootings. Police and family members pleaded for the public to come forward with information.

But little has come out, and the case appears to have gone cold years ago.

Billings has not heard from police in over two years, he said. And when The Observer requested reports tied to the shooting, CMPD provided one document: an incident report written the day of the shooting, at a time when only two people had been pronounced dead.

Unsolved cases get harder with time

“Today, the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department is reminded of the tragic and violent incident that occurred on June 22, 2020, which left four people dead on Beatties Ford Road,” the department said in an emailed statement to The Observer on June 22, 2023. “While there are no arrests in this case and no new information for us to share at this time, the CMPD stands resolved to continuing the search for those responsible.”

The statement added that there is still a reward of up to $47,300 for information leading to an arrest. Crime Stoppers can be reached at 704-334-1600.

FBI spokesperson Shelley Lynch said the bureau is “still offering support to our partners at CMPD,” including pitching in a reward of up to $30,000. She did not expand on what other support the bureau has provided.

Police Chief Johnny Jennings has not publicly spoken on the case recently, but expressed frustration over it in 2021. Even with some community members coming forward, Jennings said “it’s frustrating” not being able to “put those final pieces of the puzzle together,” The Observer reported at the time.

For this story, the department did not respond to questions from The Observer about how it defines cold cases and whether it considers the Juneteenth incident a cold case, among other things. It also did not respond to a request to interview a detective.

“The longer it goes, the worse it gets,” Joseph Giacalone, an adjunct professor at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice and a retired New York Police Department sergeant, said of cold cases in general. He noted that different agencies define a cold case different ways. Some go by the number of years that have passed while others call it a cold case once leads have dried up, for example.

Giacalone’s area of expertise includes cold cases.

“There’s so many other working parts that go against the police in these things,” he said.

Over time, retirements and resignations roll in, bringing cops off a case, he said. Communication stalls. Follow-ups fall through the cracks.

The lead detective in the Juneteenth case had changed three times, The Observer reported last year.

Once a case is cold, the department should keep publicizing it, Giacalone said.

Bringing in a “fresh set of eyes” for a complete review of the work done — and checking for any past missteps — can also be helpful, he said.

Police, community not close enough?

As The Charlotte Observer previously reported, some activists believe that a poor relationship between the community and CMPD has hindered the department’s ability to get information.

“They look bad,” Billings said of the police. “Like, you didn’t do your damn job.”

In a two-hour interview with The Observer, he vented on a perceived lack of police presence near Beatties Ford Road in 2023, police not communicating with him and his family and what he described as lacking city leadership.

Now, with no arrests three years in, community members might be scared to “snitch” and risk themselves for something that could go nowhere, he said.

But Billings believes that someone knows who killed his son.

He hopes that an event this Saturday will bring the community together, honor the four victims and spark new leads for police.

“It’s not all about Jamaa,” Billings, who still can’t bring himself to visit his son’s grave, said. “It’s about all four of them, and it’s ... about getting justice done. That’s all I want.”

Want to go?

A Family Fun Day will be hosted at the memorial site, in a parking lot on the corner of Beatties Ford Road and Catherine Simmons Avenue, from noon to 5 p.m. on Saturday. The event will be hosted by Million Youth March of Charlotte and Salisbury. The event will be an opportunity for food and fellowship, according to Million Youth March. There will be a moment of silence at 3:45 p.m.