GASTONIA, N.C. — A Gastonia man has died after he was shot while his granddaughter was at home with him, police said. The charges against the two suspects have now been upgraded.
Police said the victim, 55-year-old Shane Lamar Woody, was shot on Rocky Ridge Way around 1 a.m. on Sept. 29. Channel 9′s Ken Lemon learned Woody’s 8-year-old granddaughter was there at the time. She and her mother helped him after he was shot.
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Woody’s daughter said the two suspects, Christopher Joseph Brewer, 41, and Jerry Jerome Johnson Jr., 43, stepped onto their front porch and got into an argument, yelling at her father through an open door. She said her father tried to close the front door and one of the men used his arm to push the door open.
Woody’s daughter said her dad later grabbed his cell phone. She said the suspects thought Woody was going to call police, so they shot him.
Police said Woody was taken to the hospital in Charlotte where he later died.
Brewer and Johnson were arrested the day of the shooting and charged with attempted murder and robbery. On Tuesday, Gaston County police said the charges have been upgraded to first-degree murder after consulting with the district attorney’s office.
Both Brewer and Johnson are in jail with no bond. They were in court Wednesday as investigators headed back to the scene of the shooting to gather evidence.
Gaston County police detectives are confident that they have enough to charge the suspects with murder for a crime that Woody’s family members say didn’t have to happen.
‘I just don’t know why’
Woody’s sister didn’t want to show her face on camera, but it doesn’t need to be seen to understand her tears.
“I just don’t know why,” she said
Police said the two men showed up at Woody’s home to rob him of $50. They said one man fired the fatal shot when Woody pretended to call 911.
Woody’s 8-year-old granddaughter helped to put pressure on her grandfather’s wound.
“She is really scared and she asked me ‘was the mean men coming back?’” Woody’s sister said.
The men she fears are in jail for attempted murder. Woody’s daughter said she will be in court the next time Brewer and Johnson face a judge.
“I’m going to ask the judge and request the death penalty,” she said.
On Wednesday, police were at two ponds blocks away from Shane Woody’s home. Woody’s daughter said they are looking for the gun.
“Any evidence they can find against them is good,” said his son, Brian Branigan.
Branigan wants the strongest case possible. He also knows even the strongest penalty won’t bring his father back.
“Any punishment they get from the justice system is not going to be good enough,” he said.
Family members said Woody’s granddaughter was asleep in the living room when the shooting happened. She refuses to sleep there now.
Her aunt says they plan to move out.
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