Prosecutors will not seek death penalty for suspect in deadly uptown airbnb shooting

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Prosecutors decided not to seek the death penalty for a suspect who has been charged in a deadly shooting that happened during a party at an Airbnb earlier this year in uptown Charlotte.

Marcus Joubert is accused of killing Calvin Haines on June 12 at the entrance of the Post uptown Place on North Graham Street at Sixth Street.

Michael, 16, was also charged in this case.

(Jourbet,  Sio-Somah)

Haines died at the scene.

Officers said three other victims, ages 16, 19 and 22, had also been shot.

(Calvin Haines)

Joubert was also charged with shooting into an occupied property. In court on Thursday, prosecutors said they would not seek the death penalty against him.

Channel 9 could see lots of people outside the complex shortly after the shots were fired, most of them in their late teens and early 20s.

Police roped off the entire area in front of the CVS and Dunkin Donuts with crime scene tape and evidence markers were littered across the ground as officers investigated.

Past coverage:

• Sources: Police swarm building searching for suspect connected to uptown party shooting
• Family of uptown shootout survivor says he's lucky to be alive

Witnesses told officers two people were arguing outside the complex when one pulled a gun and started firing. They said a second person also pulled out a gun and started shooting.

“When one person pulled out a firearm and started to shooting, there was another one pulling out a firearm and starting to return fire,” CMPD Capt. Rob Dance said.

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[IMAGES: 1 dead, 3 others hurt in shooting at uptown apartment building]

In-home surveillance video provided to Channel 9, dozens of shots could be heard, as well as people screaming. Moments later, several people can be seen running past the camera, away from the scene.

(WATCH BELOW: Gunshots heard on home security video in uptown)

Channel 9 spoke with several witnesses who said high school students were at the party.

One man who lives in the apartments said he woke up to the gunshots. Another woman said she heard some of the chaos that followed.

“I heard shots and people were screaming. I specifically heard somebody say, 'You’re going to make it. You’re going to make it,'” resident Neel Das said.

“Last night, I heard a bunch of yelling and, ‘Get in the car. Let’s go,’ and then a car basically zoom away right outside my window,” resident Megan Fyffe said.

Detectives were busy all night interviewing witnesses and took some of them back to CMPD headquarters to be interviewed.

"It looks like, at this point, we are seeing a trend of apartments and homes being rent on Airbnb for the purpose of having parties," said CMPD Major Allan Rutledge. "Some of them are resulting in violent altercations."

Police said the party was a summer kickoff event following recent high school graduations.

One resident said it’s his understanding using a third-party rental isn’t allowed at the complex.

“I think it’s in the leasing agreement, you’re not allowed to. I tried to actually do it during the All-Star Game and went to talk to the leasing office, and they said no,” he said.

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Channel 9 did a quick search of Airbnb and found several uptown apartments available for rent, but most of them say "no parties" or "events must be approved by the host."

Police said, sometimes, these parties are happening behind the homeowner’s back.

“We would certainly encourage people that do have their apartments and houses on a website such as Airbnb to be certainly conscientious and cautious of the trend. Many had no idea that that’s why they rented,” Rutledge said.

Rental companies like Airbnb have rules in place to keep people safe and stop big parties.

A spokesperson for Airbnb sent Channel 9 a statement saying, "We are deeply saddened by this tragedy and stand ready to support local law enforcement with their investigation. The safety of our community is our priority, and with more than 2 million guests checking into Airbnb listings every night, negative incidents are incredibly rare."

Officers told Channel 9 they were called to the apartment building around 10:20 p.m. Tuesday and arrested a man for carrying a concealed weapon. It’s not clear if there is any connection to the shooting.

"Again, related to a party, we didn't receive any calls for service in that time frame until the shooting came out,” CMPD Maj. Dave Robinson said.

Violent night across the Queen City

Before the uptown shootings, officers were called around 12:30 a.m. after someone was shot on Hunter Ridge Drive in south Charlotte.

[ALSO READ: Pastors push for end to gun violence after recent shootings]

MEDIC said they took one person to the hospital with serious injuries.

Police have not arrested anyone in that case.

About five minutes later, officers were called to another shooting, this time off Nations Ford Road near Arrowwood Road.

One person from that scene was also taken to the hospital with serious injuries.

No arrests have been made in that case either.

Police told Channel 9 that none of the overnight shooting cases are related, but they kept detectives and crime scene investigators busy all morning.

Check back with wsoctv.com for updates on this developing story.

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