CHARLOTTE — A man has pleaded guilty to the 2024 shooting death of a 22-year-old innocent bystander outside a mini mart on Tom Hunter Road. Prosecutors said the victim, Derrick Baker Jr., was caught in the crossfire after two groups got into an argument on the Blue Line before gunfire erupted outside the store.
The victim’s mother said all she wanted was accountability and holds no anger. Her son was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time.
“I love my son,” said Nacomba Smith, the victim’s mother.
She spoke in court on Thursday when one of her son’s killers, Marquavis Spencer, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder.
“The only thing that brings peace to me is that my son died just as innocent as he was born,” Smith said.
Spencer, who was 17 at the time, and Jamotis Watkins were with a group of people who got into an argument with another group on the Blue Line, prosecutors say.
They got off the train at the light rail stop at Tom Hunter Road.
One group went to the fast mart, which is now a tobacco shop.
Spencer and Watkins started shooting across the street toward the store, prosecutors said.
Baker was at the fast mart, minding his business, when he was shot.
“The thing about it is, I spent so many years with my son as a juvenile to try to prevent me from being in some type of position like this,” Smith said.
Baker’s mother said she wants accountability for her son’s death and wants people to understand the gravity of their actions.
“The decision you make, it kills other people. I am walking death,” she said.
Spencer also pleaded guilty to assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill, because there was another person who was shot in the chest but survived.
He was sentenced to 13 to 16 years in prison.
His co-defendant, Watkins, will face a judge on Friday for arraignment.
Baker leaves behind a three-year-old girl.
©2026 Cox Media Group
/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/cmg/LH3JSJEF3VBLRJLJQESEAG34AM.png)
