CHARLOTTE — Ondrea Stevenson was killed on Dec. 4, 2013, at the Little Rock Apartments when gunfire erupted around two in the morning.
The case, involving the death of the 19-year-old and her unborn child, remains open after charges against two suspects were dropped several years ago. A decade later, her mother continues to seek justice.
Investigators believe several men fired into the apartment, but Stevenson was not the intended target.
Stevenson was 19 years old and pregnant at the time she was killed. Police do not believe the bullets were intended for her, though at least 10 shots were fired into the apartment.
Her mother, Dana Drayton, says her daughter was sleeping on the couch when she was hit seven times.
Drayton stated that even though it has been 10 years, the morning her daughter was killed still feels like it just happened yesterday.
A resident of the Little Rock Apartments recalled the chaotic scene from that night.
“I heard her scream, so I turned around, and I ran back in there. And the next thing I know, she was lying on the floor,” the resident said.
It is believed that several men fired into the apartment, taking the lives of Stevenson and her unborn child.
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Six years after the shooting, police made two arrests in the case. However, prosecutors dropped the charges against the two suspects in 2019, citing conflicting witness statements and a lack of evidence. The case has been open ever since.
Stevenson had attended Shaw University in Raleigh, majoring in criminal justice.
She was looking forward to becoming a mother, a prospect her mother also eagerly anticipated.
“I was excited about my first grandbaby. I know she was excited about her first child; we were going to have so much fun together,” Drayton said.
Drayton described her ongoing struggle with the loss, stating it is hard to deal with everyday life.
“It’s hard to deal with everyday life, like it’s a struggle for me to smile, to be brave cause most days I don’t want to do that,” Ms. Drayton said.
She feels the system has forgotten her daughter’s case since the charges were dropped in 2019. “I don’t have justice; I don’t have peace,” she said.
Despite the passage of time, she hopes new information will surface. “Hopefully somebody will talk now, I don’t know if somebody was scared to talk, like, I just want justice for my daughter,” Ms. Drayton stated.
She also expressed her inability to visit Ondrea’s grave, saying she needs closure and for those responsible to be held accountable.
“I can’t, I’ve tried several times, but I can’t. I got to have that closure in my life, and I just don’t have it, until somebody they need to be held accountable,” Drayton expressed.
Authorities continue to seek information regarding the shooting.