BURKE COUNTY, N.C. — The Burke County Sheriff’s Office has warrants issued for the arrests of William Chase Pate of Morganton and Cordero Louis Thompson of Valdese in connection with the homicide of Christopher Eron Williams.
Pate is wanted for murder while Thompson is wanted for accessory after the fact.
Investigators and crime scene tape covered the Burke County mobile home park after the deadly shooting.
A section of Jamestown Road was shut down Thursday as detectives looked for evidence out on the roadway.
Witnesses said they heard arguing, then at least two shots fired.
"Went ‘pop, pop’ twice," Karen Minish said.
Minish heard the shots around midnight Wednesday outside her home west of Morganton.
Melissa Dean lives down the road and said the gunfire woke her and her 2-year-old daughter.
She spoke to the victim before someone drove him to the hospital, where he later died.
"I came out and I went over there and saw the man leaning over, and he said he had been shot,” Dean said.
She said he was shot in the stomach.
Police have not released the possible motive behind the shooting.
Charles Minish said the victim was working on car stereo speakers prior to the shooting. He hopes the person responsible is caught before someone else gets hurt.
"I'm worried about my life," he said.