According to search warrants issued by a Gastonia police officer, a man was shot and killed while working in his front yard as others were shooting at each other.
According to authorities, Jeffrey Pleasant Carter, 39, was shot on April 19 in front of his house on Hawkins Street in Gastonia.
According to search warrant affidavits submitted by Detective H.B. Houser, Carter was working in his front yard when a group of guys walking down the street pulled out their firearms and began shooting. The men, caught on surveillance video, then got into a silver Dodge Durango and drove away.
An eyewitness told police that the males were exchanging gunfire with another individual who was shooting at them from behind a bush or tree line. When questioned by authorities, the individual denied being involved in the shooting. The witness stated that Carter was not involved in the conflict.
Jasmionta Delshon Mackey, 21, is one of the guys accused of involvement and has been charged with first-degree murder. He is being kept in jail with no bond.
Attorney Brent Ratchford stated that guilt for the crime could be determined by who shot first during the conflict, as it is possible that the individual who shot back was acting in self defense.
“It’s going to come down to the facts of the case,” he told me. “I like to suggest that these are playground regulations. Who swung first? “Who shot first?”
