He escaped robbery charges. But now he’ll serve life in fatal Charlotte shooting
A Charlotte man previously charged twice with robbery was sentenced to life in prison on Tuesday in the fatal shooting of another man in west Charlotte in 2019.
A Mecklenburg jury found Algia Clark, 27, guilty of first-degree murder and possession of a firearm by a felon.
Clark’s 2019 charge was one that The Charlotte Observer previously highlighted. Prosecutors had two chances to send him to prison for years but did not take them, the Observer reported then. They dismissed an armed robbery charge against him in 2017, winning a conviction for a lesser charge. A month after he got out of prison, he faced the same charge — and again saw a dismissal.
Now, his chances have run out.
Assistant District Attorney Jane Collins used phone call recordings, messages, footage from inside a Bojangles and other evidence in her closing argument Tuesday.
It was clear, she said. Clark shot and killed 20-year-old A’mari McCaskill in the 1400 block of West Trade Street. By Collins’ account, Clark showed up, McCaskill walked out of the Bojangles raring for a fight and instead was shot in the head.
Clark and McCaskill had been feuding for months. It escalated over social media, according to evidence that prosecutors presented. In one social media exchange, Clark asked whether any beef would be settled with “fades or shots,” according to one exhibit. That means fist fights or bullets.
Testimony from an eyewitness also helped prosecutors win the case.
The fact that McCaskill was shot in the head as he “turned and was trying to run away” made Clark’s intent to commit murder clear, Collins argued.
The jury needed less than a day to reach that same conclusion, unpersuaded by arguments from defense attorney Norman Butler. In his own closing argument, he had tried to poke holes in how Clark was identified as the killer.
Judge Matt Osman sentenced Clark and granted no possibility of parole.
Ryan Oehrli covers criminal justice in the Charlotte region for The Charlotte Observer. His work is produced with financial support from the nonprofit The Just Trust. The Observer maintains full editorial control of its journalism.