‘A nice little boy’: Second teen charged after 16-year-old shot to death inside home

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — A second teenager has been charged with murder after a teenage boy died two days after being shot in west Charlotte, according to police.

Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police were called on Nov. 20 to the shooting scene on Reid Avenue off of Clanton Road around 2:13 p.m. When they arrived, officers found 16-year-old Joshua Clawson inside the home. He had been shot.

Police said someone fired a gun into the house from the outside.

MEDIC took the teen to the hospital, where he died on Sunday.

On Monday, CMPD announced that a 16-year-old girl was arrested and charged with murder, as well as shooting into an occupied dwelling.

Then on Friday, police said a 15-year-old boy had also been charged with murder. Their names were not released due to their age.

No other information surrounding the crime has been released.

Those who live in the community had one overriding question for Channel 9 on Monday: Why did this happen?

“He was real fun-loving. A real fun-loving guy -- had a nice sense of humor,” Shawn Wilkes told reporter Tina Terry.

He said he’s shocked that Clawson, a kid who used to visit his neighborhood all the time, is gone.

“He’s so young. I couldn’t believe it,” Wilkes said. “I was like, ‘He don’t even bother anybody. He’s a normal 16-year-old, doing what 16-year-olds do.’”

A police report said six people were inside the home at the time of the shooting, including a 10-year-old girl.

“He always kept a smile on his face,” Wilkes said. “A nice little boy.”

Neighbors who see development happening up and down the street are frustrated that violence continues to take lives here.

“This neighborhood was supposed to get cleaned up,” one resident told Channel 9. “There was a church organization called the Dream Center. They really cleaned this neighborhood up -- like a lot. I’m surprised with all police presence that this is going on.”

CMPD told Eyewitness News that the type of shooting that killed Clawson -- where a shooter opens fire on a house full of people -- is up 44% this year. It has happened 810 times.

So far, police have not said what motivated the girl to open fire on the home.

‘This is gonna continue to happen’

Clawson is the second 16-year-old murdered in Charlotte this month.

Ruben Contreras was shot and killed on Nov. 7 outside his family’s apartment off North Tryon Street. Family members told Channel 9 they don’t believe the bullet that killed Contreras, who was out with friends when someone started shooting, was intended for him.

No arrests have been made in that case.

Recently, there have also been more teens charged in violent crimes.

In a separate case in October, police charged two 16-year-olds with murdering and robbing a man in southwest Charlotte. We don’t know the names of those suspects, or the teen charged in Clawson’s death, because they are all charged as juveniles under the state’s raise the age law, which went into effect last December.

Will Adams and his team True Blue have been working to stop the violence in Charlotte for years with a special emphasis recently on mentoring young people.

“All you see is robbing, stealing, killing, looting, cussing and fussing,” Adams said. “That’s what’s instilled in you, and that’s what you become -- a product of the environment.”

He said mentorship is the key to turn young lives around before they turn to crime and violence.

But the community must do their part, he said.

“Until the community steps up and becomes more involved, this is gonna continue to happen,” Adams said.

This is a developing story. Check back with wsoctv.com for updates.

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