Suspect fatally shot his mother in a bathroom then tried to leave, NC police say

Jonathan Limehouse
·1 min read

A 24-year-old man shot and killed his mother in her bathroom then tried to leave the family’s home Tuesday morning, Concord police said.

At 12:45 a.m., officers arrived at a home in the 5800 block of Brookstone Drive NW to assist Cabarrus County EMS. Paramedics had been called to the home for a medical-related incident, police said in a news release.

As EMS was leaving, multiple gunshots were heard coming from the home, police said. When officers arrived, they encountered Ya-Qway Jayshawn Sawyer as he was attempting to leave the scene, police said.

Officers detained Sawyer and began a search of the house. They found Sawyer’s mother, Katrina Renee Smith, dead in her bathroom with multiple gunshot wounds, according to police.

Sawyer has lived in Charlotte and High Point in recent years, according to an Observer search of public records.

Sawyer was charged with one count of murder and is being held without bond in the Cabarrus County jail, police said.

A motive for the shooting has not been determined, police said.