HUNTERSVILLE, N.C. — Police said the only person charged in a deadly shooting inside a Huntersville Walmart will not face additional charges, according to the Mecklenburg County District Attorney’s Office.
Authorities said 19-year-old Jalyn Craig was shot and killed during a fight inside the store last November.
Charlotte rapper “Da Baby,” whose real name is Jonathan Kirk, was charged with carrying a concealed gun in the case, and he was sentenced to 30 days in the Mecklenburg County Jail. The district attorney’s office said “that sentence was suspended pending his successful completion of 12 months of unsupervised probation.”
Kirk did not face any additional charges in the case.
Statement from the Mecklenburg County District Attorney’s Office:
“In June 2019, Mr. Kirk was tried for misdemeanor carrying a concealed gun (in connection with the death of Jaylin Craig) in Mecklenburg County District Court before a judge. The judge found him guilty of that offense. He was sentenced to 30 days in the Mecklenburg County Jail; that sentence was suspended pending his successful completion of 12 months of unsupervised probation. The District Attorney’s Office reviewed the police investigative file and agreed with the Huntersville Police Department’s decision not to charge Mr. Kirk further as prosecutors could not prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant did not act in self-defense.”
[PHOTOS: 1 shot, killed inside Huntersville Walmart]
Police swarmed the store, inside and out, on Bryton Town Center Drive for hours. Huntersville Police Chief Cleveland Spruill told Channel 9 one of his officers was on-duty and in the Walmart parking lot when the shooting happened.
Officials said the officer immediately entered the store after hearing two to three gun shots and found several individuals involved with the incident.
Police said one person was shot in the abdomen and was pronounced dead at the scene.
Huntersville police later identified the victim as 19-year-old Craig.
"We just heard he got into an altercation with some rapper,” Craig’s friend, Jaden Major, said. “That's what was going around on Instagram."
An initial investigation revealed the shooting stemmed from a fight inside the store between several individuals. During the fight, shots were fired inside the store.
Police said they have identified all people involved in the shooting and four people were taken to the Huntersville Police Department to be interviewed.
Major said his friend's death has been difficult to deal with.
"It hurt me, and it hurt a couple of his friends because they called me crying about it," Major said.
“We just heard a bunch of gunshots,” said Walmart employee Christian Diaz.
Diaz said he rushed to get people out of the store’s back door when gunshots rang out.
[ALSO READ: Walmart has become crime magnet in many North Carolina cities]
Eyewitness News anchor Liz Foster asked him what was going through his head.
“Get out,” he said.
That was Denise Burton’s main focus too. She and her daughter were in the bank at the front of the store at the time.
“I don’t want to be a sitting duck so as soon as I saw the coast was clear, I just wanted to get my daughter out of there,” Burton said.
Police blocked every entrance to the store and checked the IDs of terrified shoppers wanting to go home. They were getting people’s information in case they were a witness.
Channel 9 crews saw SWAT officers escorting families outside.
“With everything going on, you just don’t want to be sitting there,” Burton said.
Statement from Walmart:
“We are deeply saddened by what has happened. We are thankful for the quick actions by the Huntersville Police Department that has resulted in an arrest. We are working closely with law enforcement. Since this is an active investigation, we will refer additional questions to them.”
This is an ongoing investigation. Check back with wsoctv.com for more information.
Read more top trending stories on wsoctv.com: