No criminal charges against wife in shooting death of Meck County deputy

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Charlotte-Mecklenburg police are not pursuing criminal charges against the woman who shot her husband to death in January 2018.

[PAST COVERAGE: Mecklenburg County deputy was drinking, threatened wife before shot, killed]

The Mecklenburg County District Attorney’s Office concluded that they could not prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Rataba Hawkins did not act in self-defense.

On Jan. 15, 2018, Rataba Hawkins called 911 and told a dispatcher, “My husband reached for the knife, and I shot him,” according to court documents.

Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department officers went to the home on Ashley Meadow Drive in northeast Charlotte and found James Hawkins, 35, unresponsive.

James Hawkins was a deputy for the Mecklenburg County Sheriff’s Office.

There was a butcher’s knife, a pistol and a plate of food on the kitchen floor when authorities arrived.

James Hawkins died at the scene from a gunshot wound to the neck. The medical examiner said another round went through his hand and into his abdomen.

Rataba Hawkins is also a deputy and was put on administrative leave at the time.

The couple had a history of domestic-related issues.

Someone is justified in using deadly force if they believe that it is necessary to prevent imminent death or great bodily harm, according to North Carolina law.

Cox Media Group