No bond allowed for 18-year-old accused in Charlotte serial shootings that killed one
The 18-year-old accused of randomly killing one person and shooting others across Charlotte this week will be held in the Mecklenburg County jail under no bond for his murder charge.
Carlos Roberto Diaz and a 16-year-old allegedly shot at bicyclists, drivers and pedestrians while driving in a car at about 1 a.m. Tuesday.
Police charged the two Thursday afternoon after police stopped the 16-year-old in a traffic stop.
In Mecklenburg County District Court Friday morning, three deputies and a Spanish translator stood near Diaz. He rarely looked up during the hearing.
Diaz has two open cases related to the shooting. One charges him with shooting into a home and attempted first-degree murder. The other charges him with felony conspiracy to commit murder, assault with a deadly weapon, five counts of attempted murder and two counts each of shooting into an occupied vehicle and a dwelling.
A Superior Court judge will set the bond for the latter case, District Court Judge Fritz Mercer, Jr., said in court on Friday. The next court date for Diaz was set for July 31. Mercer set a $100,000 secured bond for the charge of shooting into a home, but the murder charge will keep him in jail.
The 16-year-old, whose name will be kept confidential, also faces a first-degree murder charge.
Five miles north of uptown, near the Lincoln Heights neighborhood, the pair allegedly shot at two drivers, a bicyclist and a group of people outside a home. In southwest Charlotte’s Steele Creek neighborhood, about 10 miles from the other shootings, another bicyclist was shot.
The first person shot, identified by Observer news partner WSOC as Mustaffa Muhammad, 58, was found dead on the road next to a car.
Police have said they believe the suspects were looking for other random victims to shoot when an officer stopped a car on Thursday and arrested the 16-year-old.
This story was originally published July 12, 2024 at 10:24 AM.
