Third suspect arrested in Charlotte's first homicide of 2019

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Police have arrested and charged a third suspect in Charlotte's first homicide of the year, which took place in north Charlotte.

On Thursday, police announced the arrest of 19-year-old Tyler Jordan Hokes. He is charged with first-degree murder, shooting into an occupied dwelling and five counts of assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill.

(Hokes)

The shooting happened just before 3 a.m. on Jan. 1 at a home in the Derita neighborhood, on Highlander Court near Old Statesville Road.

The victim, 53-year-old Carnis Poindexter, was shot in the street and ran to the front porch of his home, where he was found, according to Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Maj. Mike Smathers.

[ [IMAGES: CMPD: First homicide of 2019 at same house where kidnapped teen was beaten] ]

He was pronounced dead at the scene.

Earlier this year, police said they arrested 19-year-old Furquan Thompson and charged him with first-degree murder, shooting into an occupied dwelling and five counts of assault with a deadly weapon. They also charged 20-year-old Ronald Benbow III with murder, shooting into an occupied dwelling and five counts of assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill.

(Benbow, Thompson)

"This is obviously not how we wanted to start out 2019," Smathers said to reporters at the scene on Jan. 1.

Neighbors told Channel 9 they heard multiple gunshots and Smathers said there was a tremendous amount of evidence at the scene that still needed to be collected. He said the crime scene itself was expansive.

"It is going to be a Herculean task to find all the evidence -- especially in the dark -- collect it and process the scene," he told Channel 9.

Smathers could not elaborate but said officers have responded to the home several times in the past.

[ALSO READ: Charlotte homicide rate dropped more than 30 percent from 2017]

Channel 9 spoke to Michele Norman, neighborhood HOA president about the incident.

"It's a good neighborhood. We just had one bad apple in the neighborhood and it was that house. Yeah this is a good neighborhood. It's a temporary stain but we can rebound from that," said Norman.

Channel 9 reporter Mark Barber was with detectives on the scene and learned that a disturbing crime Eyewitness News covered last year happened at this same house.

[ALSO READ: Woman helps kidnapped teen tortured for 3 days: 'He was so scared']

Over the summer, a teenager was kidnapped, brought to the home on Highlander Court, and assaulted over several days.

The mother of that teen said her son was tortured, bound to a chair with zip ties and beaten. He was kidnapped by four people who believed he stole from them, according to police.

Police arrested Poindexter, Carnis Poindexter Jr., Monazha Thompson, and Mikkaala Lewis in this case.

It was unclear if the homicide had anything to do with that crime.

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

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