DoorDash driver admits he killed Charlotte high schooler, 15, during a delivery
A DoorDash driver in Charlotte pleaded guilty to a reduced charge in the killing of a 15-year-old West Charlotte High student during a delivery and was sentenced to at least four years in prison, prosecutors said Friday.
Keshawn Tyree Boyd, 28, originally faced a first-degree murder charge in the January 2025 shooting of Matthias Crockett near the 400 block of West Eighth Street in the uptown area, the Charlotte Observer previously reported.
Boyd said Crockett and a man were trying to steal his car when he shot Crockett, court records showed.
Crockett and the man allegedly got into Boyd’s car as he dropped off a DoorDash delivery, Charlotte Observer news partner WSOC reported at the time. Boyd told police he saw Crockett trying to shift the car’s gears and that he suspected the two were armed.
A police affidavit said Boyd admitted to shooting Crockett with a 9 mm pistol and that the teen was unarmed. The District Attorney’s office said a gun was found near Crockett, who was fatally shot while inside Boyd’s car, WSOC reported.
A prosecutor said the person who placed the DoorDash order called 911 after seeing the shooting.
Driver was under duress, public defender said
Boyd’s public defender argued that he was under duress from his car almost being stolen, WSOC reported, and that DoorDash was one of his four current jobs. Boyd was acting in self-defense, the public defender said, and was not a risk to the public as he has no prior convictions.
During the Feb. 2-27 Mecklenburg County Superior Court session, Boyd pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter, according to a District Attorney’s office news release.
Judge George Bell sentenced Boyd to a maximum five years and eight months in prison, prosecutors said.