Murder suspect, ‘danger to society,’ shoots another man. Judge revokes bond.

A murder suspect was out on bond — his daughter in the yard next to him — when he saw men approaching. He put her inside, swapping her for an AK-47 rifle that he fired as a cigar hung from his mouth. He hit homes, cars and one of the men, police said.

He was arrested and barely booked when he posted bond. Two months later, he was again in jail for hitting his child’s mother, police say. He again quickly posted bond.

In court Tuesday, though, a Charlotte judge ruled Michael Withers will go back to jail. This time, he’ll stay there until a jury decides his fate.

Following a battle between prosecutors and his defense attorney, Superior Court Judge Carla Archie revoked Withers’ bond — originally set at $10,000, then raised to $300,000.

He was a danger to society, the judge said.

She’d just heard details from the 27-year-old’s case files, beginning with the 2021 murder of High Point basketball guard Haiishen McIntyre.

In August 2021, 12 days after he was released from jail following an earlier domestic violence charge, Withers allegedly shot and killed McIntyre on a Huntersville basketball court, police said. McIntyre’s fiance, Rosemary Dunning, has been waiting for a trial ever since.

Withers’ court date was “the best Tuesday of my life,” Dunning said. “Because we’re safe.”

While Withers was out of jail awaiting trial, he repeatedly contacted and threatened Dunning and McIntyre’s family, state prosecutor Jennifer Mills told Archie.

A second shooting, assault on a female charges

Withers was out on bond, the murder charge still looming overhead, when he shot another man — Shikese Zontae Mcentyre, 25 — outside a Salisbury apartment complex in November. He told police he was defending himself and his family. Mcentryre fired first, Withers said, and it was probably related to gang affiliation.

Police charged both Withers and Mcentyre with assault with a deadly weapon, shooting into two occupied dwellings, and shooting into two parked cars.

State prosecutor Jennifer Mills told Archie new evidence suggested Withers shot first. Regardless, she said, no shot should have been fired. As a condition of his release, prosecutors previously said, Withers could not be around guns or people who had guns.

“I don’t know what else needs to be shown for y’all to realize he’s a danger to society,” Mills said.

In January, police again charged Withers with assault on a female. She had a bloody nose and chest when they arrived, and Withers told her not to press charges, police said.

Sent back to jail

Withers’ defense attorney Mary Rogers on Tuesday contended that a jury — not a judge — should determine her client’s time spent in jail.

Withers’ hearings, Mills said, were a direct product of his actions.

As an officer handcuffed Withers, leading him out the side door and into the Mecklenburg County Detention Center, he looked at the 11 people sitting in the back of the courtroom.

“You’re going to have to hold it down for me,” he said. “Don’t forget me.”

The group filed out of the room, calling the judge’s ruling unfair. Outside, security waited to escort Dunning and her mother away from the courthouse.