Teenager arrested in fatal Charlotte pool party shooting, police say
A teenager was arrested and charged with first-degree murder Saturday in the fatal shooting of 20-year-old Richard Jeddiah Thomas at a pool party in Charlotte in March, police said.
Kmari Ja’Suan Knotts, 19, also was charged with four counts of assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill or inflict serious injury, according to a Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department news release. He was arrested without incident, police said.
Five people in all were shot at the party the night of March 22 in the 5900 block of Hucks Road, police said. That’s off Old Statesville Road in north Charlotte.
Others who were shot were taken to hospitals with non-life-threatening injuries, police said.
At the time of the shooting, CMPD Maj. Gene Lim said a caller had reported the shooting to police.
“Upon arrival there was a ton of people here, younger adults, and there was a person who had succumbed to gunshot wounds behind a residence here,” he said.
“Two additional victims (a male and female) were transported to the hospital with non-life- threatening gunshot wounds.”
Homeowner rented pool out, man said
Investigators discovered two more victims later in the evening, including one who “self-transported to a local hospital” with non-life-threatening injuries, officials said.
The homeowner rented out the house’s pool online, a man who rents a room in the home told The Charlotte Observer at the time.
People at the party appeared to be of high school to college age, Lim said.
“Upon arrival here, I probably passed about 50 young adults,” Lim said in a video posted on social media. “It’s disturbing. … Don’t know if their parents are coming. I don’t know if their parents even know where they are.”
A motive for the shootings has not been released.
CMPD urged anyone with information about the shooting to call police Detective Tony Smereka at 704-432-8477 or the Charlotte Crime Stoppers anonymous tips line at 704-334-1600.