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Charlotte-Mecklenburg police are investigating the death of a 21-year-old Conover man who was assaulted and then found lying in front of a home in northwest Charlotte.
Police were initially called to the 1800 block of Crestdale Drive just after 10 p.m. Friday after someone called about a car that was parked in the road. Officers found the car unoccupied, then were alerted by a person who said someone was lying in their front yard.
The victim, who was identified Saturday as Michael Victor Shull, had been assaulted, police said. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
Shull lived in Conover but was in Charlotte Friday to pick up his girlfriend who lives here. The couple had planned to go see Christmas lights with his family this weekend, said sister Samana Shull.
Michael Shull was the youngest of four children, and had graduated two years ago from the N.C. School for the Deaf in Morganton. He was born deaf, his sister said.
In recent months, Michael Shull had been hired on full-time as a tire specialist in Morganton after working with the company on an interim basis since he was in school. “He loved it, he was so excited,” Samana Shull said. When he got his first paycheck she said “he took pictures of it and shared it with everyone he knew.”
She said her brother loved working on cars in his free time, following in the footsteps of his father and an older brother.
Samana Shull described her younger brother as a bright, loving and caring person. “Everyone who knew him (or) met him even briefly loved him,” she said.
On Saturday, police had not released information about a possible suspect or motive in the case. Homicide detectives spent time canvassing the neighborhood to look for potential witnesses.
The home where Shull was found is on a quiet road in the Dalebrook subdivision of Lincoln Heights.
Anyone with information about the crime is asked to call 704-432-TIPS to speak directly with a homicide detective or call Crime Stoppers at 704-334-1600.
Staff writer Cameron Steele contributed.
