Police make arrests in December triple homicide in southwest Charlotte

Charlotte-Mecklenburg police say they have made two arrests in a triple shooting in southwest Charlotte last month that left two brothers and another man dead.

Antonio Lafloyd Robinson, 34, and Jovon Raymar Twitty, 34, are both charged with three counts of murder in the killings.

Police say they killed brothers Naquivs Aqueece Benson and Jarvis Mandrell Benson and also shot and killed Javarius Deshawn McGee on China Grove Road in the Steele Creek community.

Maj. Cam Selvey said the killings were drug-related but wouldn’t give more details or say what led officers to identify Twitty and Robinson as suspects.

Robinson was arrested in Lancaster, S.C., by members of CMPD’s Violent Criminal Apprehension Team, who are authorized to pursue suspects across state lines. Twitty was arrested at a Charlotte hotel and was being interviewed by detectives late Thursday.

Selvey said the arrests came as a welcome relief for detectives, who investigated more homicides in 2015 than in the prior six years. The arrests mean that all six killings in December have been solved, during a year when homicide clearance rates have lagged, Selvey said.

Koketa Hood, the Benson brothers’ aunt and a Charlotte preschool teacher, said the brothers grew up in Lancaster, S.C. Naquivs Benson lived in Charlotte, where he was a culinary student who wanted “to do something different with his life.” She last saw him on Thanksgiving showing off his culinary skills smoking and deep frying turkeys and making desserts that “melted in your mouth.”

Relatives said Naquivs Benson had been shot before and was told by doctors he’d be paralyzed. Instead, he walked with a limp. They described the brothers as lively and funny. “They were always together,” said Shanta Montgomery, a cousin.

All three victims had run-ins with the law, South Carolina court records show. Naquivs Benson served prison time for trafficking ecstasy two years ago and was given probation for unlawfully carrying a pistol in 2005, records show.

Mandrell Benson was convicted of drugs and weapons charges and McGee was found guilty of two drug charges, records show.

The brothers had recently lost a friend in Lancaster to gunfire. “They were trying to get away from Lancaster to get away from the mess,” said Stacie Coleman, another aunt.

This story was originally published January 28, 2016 at 8:30 PM with the headline "Police make arrests in December triple homicide in southwest Charlotte."