Family of slain Ardrey Kell teen directs donations to CMPD victim’s unit
The family of 15-year-old Jenna Hewitt, who was shot and killed Sunday inside a home near Providence Country Club in Charlotte, described the Ardrey Kell High 10th grader in her obituary as an athletic teenager who loved field hockey and the school’s swim and dive team.
The Ardrey Kell swim and dive team on Tuesday posted a photo of a large rock near the school painted and decorated in Jenna Hewitt’s memory that says “Fly High Jenna.” The deadly shooting — in which 51-year-old Matthew Chaplin, father of another Ardrey Kell student, was also killed — has shocked the school community and surrounding neighborhoods.
The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department says Hewitt and Chaplin were killed by 23-year-old John Bocek just before 4 a.m. Sunday after he broke into the Chaplin home on Glenn Abbey Way. Bocek, according to the police department, died later at a hospital from a self-inflicted gun wound.
Detectives have not publicly detailed what they think Bocek’s motive was. At a news conference Monday, Maj. Cam Selvey, leader of CMPD’s Homicide Unit, said it appears Bocek and Matthew Chaplin’s 16-year-old daughter knew one another. Just four days before the deadly shooting, police records show, Bocek was a wanted suspect in connection with an assault and robbery at the Chaplin home. The victim in that case was the 16-year-old girl.
Police say the 16-year-old witnessed the shootings on Sunday inside her home and called 911.
Now, Hewitt’s family - which includes two sisters and a brother as well as family in Canada, where she was born - say they’d like for memorial donations in her name to be put toward CMPD’s Victim Services Unit. That money could be used toward the police department’s efforts to offer victims and their families grief support and counseling.
“In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Victim Services Unit c/o CMPD, 601 East Trade Street, Charlotte, NC 28202. Please put in the memo line: Jenna Hewitt,” the obituary states.
A funeral for Hewitt is planned for Friday at Harrison United Methodist Church in Pineville. The family plans to hold a private burial service for the teen.
Anna Douglas
The Charlotte Observer