Judge doubles bond for 19-year-old arrested in uptown Charlotte New Year’s Eve shooting
A judge Tuesday doubled the bond for the 19-year-old police say shot five people in uptown Charlotte on New Year’s Eve, court documents show.
Police arrested Daevion Crawford at Romare Bearden Park — about two blocks west of Bank of America Stadium along Church Street — at 11:30 p.m. on Sunday. He allegedly shot into a crowd, hitting five victims below the knee, according to a Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department news release.
Blocks away, crowds gathered for Charlotte’s official New Year’s Eve celebration at the corner of Brooklyn Village Avenue and Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard.
5 people hit in burst of gunfire at uptown Charlotte park on New Year’s Eve, CMPD says
Crawford has been charged with five counts of assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill, and one count of going armed to the terror of the public. Officials initially set a $750,000 bond, but Judge Matt Newton ordered it be raised to $1.5 million at Crawford’s first appearance in the Mecklenburg County Courthouse Tuesday afternoon.
Why was Crawford’s bond raised?
Despite its “frightening name,” Going Armed to the Terror of the Public is a misdemeanor offense, said Jeff Welty, a professor of public law and government and associate senior dean at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill’s School of Government. The felony assaults — the more serious offenses in this case — likely drove Crawford’s bond up, he said.
In court Tuesday, a detective said Crawford blamed the fired shots on his friend, according to WSOC, the Charlotte Observer’s news partner. His mother, also in court, said police lack evidence that her son shot the gun.
Charlotte City Councilman Tariq Bokhari plans to craft a new task force focused on crime in the wake of the shooting.
