Murder arrest made months after 19-year-old girl shot in car at busy intersection

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Police have arrested and charged a man months after a recent high school graduate died when the car she was riding in was sprayed with gunfire.

On Wednesday, Charlotte-Mecklenburg police said 18-year-old Christopher Chisolm was charged with the murder of 19-year-old Briana Stephenson.

On March 8, officers were called just before noon to the intersection of Freedom Drive and Tuckaseegee Road.

According to investigators, Stephenson and another teen were inside a Hyundai Sonata and were stopped at the intersection when someone pulled up in another car and opened fire. The suspects sped off.

Detectives said Stephenson was taken to the hospital with critical injuries. She died two days later.

The driver of the car she was in, 18-year-old Jaquavious Royster, was also taken to the hospital but survived.

Channel 9 could see officers on scene focusing on two cars surrounded by crime scene tape and placing evidence markers on the ground nearby.

Stephenson was a recent graduate of Harding University High School. Her family said they wanted anyone involved to come forward.

"I hate that her life was cut short. She didn’t even get a chance to live it,” said her grandmother, Donna Debusk.

Authorities have not said what led up to the shooting.

Chisolm was charged with murder, discharging a firearm into an occupied property and assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill.

This is an ongoing investigation. Check back with wsoctv.com for more information.

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