CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Family, friends and neighbors are grieving the loss of a Charlotte man who was killed over $20.
The robber shot Matthew Hawkins on Tuesday. He died from his injuries Thursday night.
Police have few clues in what they believe was a random attack on the father and small business owner.
Neighbors are struggling to understand why someone would kill a hard-working father.
“I mean, how far are you going to get with $20?” neighbor Ronald Tolbert said.
Hawkins owned eight homes across Charlotte. He would fix them up and then sell them.
Eyewitness News also learned that for more than a decade, Hawkins owned a Subway restaurant on Eastway Drive.
He was repairing one house on 17th Street Tuesday when a robber came in and demanded money. Even though Hawkins gave him cash, the robber shot him.
Eyewitness News searched Mecklenburg County real estate records and found he bought the property last November for $18,000.
The community is in transition -- it was once one of Charlotte's roughest neighborhoods.
“Now, it's a much better area,” Tolbert said.
Eyewitness News saw several investigators return to the scene Friday. They said it appears Hawkins was the target of a random crime.
Tolbert is worried about the safety of the rest of the neighborhood and hopes the killer is caught soon.
“It's dangerous for everybody around for that person to be running around here,” he said.