‘I need justice’: Mother of man shot, killed shares impact of dismissed charges

CHARLOTTE — After charges against her son’s initially accused murderer months after his death were dropped, a local mother is struggling with both heartbreak and frustration.

On Friday afternoon, Mecklenburg County prosecutors dismissed a first-degree murder charge for a person who was initially charged in a New Year’s Day shooting that left one man dead. Channel 9 brought you the story of Raymond Ntungwen, a poet and musician, the victim of that shooting.

His mother, Pamela Ntugwen got word just this week that prosecutors were dismissing the charges against the individual initially charged in this case.

“I feel really frustrated because I need justice for my son,” Pamela Ntugwen said.

Court documents show that the initially charged person told law enforcement he shot and killed Ntugwen in self-defense. He went on to explain that they were both arguing over a bag of marijuana, the argument turned physical, and the two struggled over a gun.

Prosecutors say there was no video or witnesses.

According to the filing, the state does not have any independent evidence to determine who began the physical fight, and because of that the state cannot meet its burden of convincing a unanimous jury of 12 that the defendant was not acting in self-defense.

“I asked the DA, you took 10 months and I was on the bench 10 months waiting for something and after 10 months you tell me oh there was no camera, no witnesses, you could have told me that in two days or one week at the most, you did not need 10 months,” Pamela Ntugwen.

Due to stress from the case, Pamela Ntugwen relocated from Pineville to Minnesota. She told Channel 9′s veteran crime reporter Glenn Counts, that she could not live in a place where her son’s blood was “crying out from the ground.”

“If man fails to give justice, I’m trusting God and I’m praying that he will give divine justice his own way.”

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