Gastonia teen charged with murder in slaying outside gas station
A 17-year-old Gastonia man faces a first-degree murder charge in the shooting death of another Gastonia man outside a North Chester Street convenience store on Thursday.
This marks the fourth homicide in Gastonia this year.
In Thursday's killing, police were called to the S & K Express convenience store at 549 N. Chester St., near Davidson Avenue in the Highland community, at 4:49 p.m.
When police arrived they found 20-year-old Lamar McCoy of Gastonia already dead inside the vehicle from apparent gunshot wounds. The vehicle was parked near the store's gas pumps, according to police.
Police do not believe the shooting was random, but still are working out details about discovering a possible motive or a relationship between the two men.
"We do believe they at least knew each other, but we don't know in what aspect yet," said Gastonia Police spokesman Rick Goodale.
Police did not release the name of the suspect because of his age. It will be up to the District Attorney's Office whether to ask a judge to allow prosecutor's to try him as an adult.
"I'm just very concerned with the level of gun violence we're seeing in our office," District Attorney Travis Page said of Thursday's incident.
Investigators at the scene also located a handgun inside the car near McCoy's body. Detectives determined the handgun had been reported stolen in South Carolina. Detectives are working to determine who was in possession of this stolen handgun at the time of McCoy’s death.
Gastonia Police reported the 17-year-old suspect was arrested early Friday morning without incident.
You can reach Kevin Ellis at 704-201-7016 or email him at kellis@gastongazette.com.
This article originally appeared on The Gaston Gazette: Gastonia teen charged with murder in slaying outside gas station
