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A local civil rights group plans to hold a news conference Wednesday afternoon in Charlotte, to announce steps it plans to take in the case of Jasmine Thar, a Charlotte high school student who was shot and killed in Columbus County in December 2011.
The news conference is set for 1:16 p.m. at Marshall Park. Organizers say the “16” is important because that was the age of Thar, an Ardrey Kell High School student.
She was visiting family members during the Christmas holidays in the town of Chadbourn and was standing outside a residence when a single bullet fired from inside a house across the street struck her.
The man inside that house, James Blackwell, told police his gun accidentally discharged while he was cleaning it. The Columbus County prosecutor’s office decided not to charge Blackwell after conducting an investigation.
Chadbourn has been the scene of several protests in the 13 months since that shooting, by groups urging the Columbus County district attorney to press charges in the case.
Wednesday’s news conference has been called by the True Healing Under God Civil Rights Initiative. Organizers say they have asked New York activist Al Sharpton to join their efforts.
