CHARLOTTE — A 43-year-old man has been arrested in connection with an east Charlotte homicide that happened more than 25 years ago.
The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department said its cold case unit identified Alan Marquis Phifer as a suspect in the March 2001 killing of 21-year-old Cesar Gudino Gonzalez.
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Officers responded to a shooting on North Sharon-Amity Road on March 24, 2001. Three people were found suffering from gunshot wounds, while two others had been physically assaulted. Gonzalez was pronounced dead at the scene.
The case eventually went cold before CMPD’s Cold Case Unit reopened the investigation in January 2026.
Detectives received a lab report in February that implicated Phifer and continued investigating before obtaining arrest warrants last week.
The department’s violent criminal apprehension team arrested Phifer Monday. He is charged with first-degree murder and robbery with a dangerous weapon.
CMPD said Gonzalez’s family has been notified of the arrest. The investigation remains ongoing.