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Mecklenburg County deputy was drinking, threatened wife before shot, killed

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — The autopsy report in the domestic-related shooting death of a deputy with the Mecklenburg County Sheriff's Office shows he and his wife, Rataba Hawkins, were drinking and then got into an argument.

The report said 35-year-old James Hawkins was throwing items at his wife and then threatened her with a large kitchen knife. The wife, also a deputy with the Mecklenburg County Sheriff's Office, picked up her service weapon and shot and killed Hawkins.

Hawkins was found shot to death in a northeast Charlotte home on Ashley Meadow Drive Jan. 15. He was shot twice, according to the autopsy report.

Hawkins was a protector, defender, father and a brother, Mecklenburg County Sheriff Irwin Carmichael said at the funeral.

[IMAGES: Mecklenburg County sheriff's deputy killed in domestic-related shooting]

He had been with Mecklenburg County Sheriff's Office since 2005 and was assigned to arrest processing, authorities said in a news release.

RELATED: Meck County deputy killed in domestic-related shooting, authorities say

Police investigate on Ashley Meadow Drive.

Deputy Hawkins had been with Mecklenburg County Sheriff's Office since 2005 and was assigned to arrest processing, authorities said in a news release.

He was shot to death in what police believe was a domestic-related shooting, and his wife, Rataba Hawkins, who is also a deputy, is part of the homicide investigation. She was put on administrative leave.

Authorities have not explained how Rataba Hawkins was involved. She has been with the Sheriff's Office since 2002 and is assigned to field operations.

No charges have been filed.

Police say there have been four domestic-related homicides already in Charlotte in 2018.