CHARLOTTE — Armani Spencer died outside of Northlake Mall in Charlotte when someone shot a dozen bullets into his car in 2022; now, his mom is hoping for justice and trying to hold the mall accountable for what she says is their role in the death.
Armani would have turned 26 this weekend, but there will be no celebration. Police say the father of three was killed on Northlake Drive two years ago.
His mom, Donna, has longed for an arrest, and now accountability. She wears her son’s ashes inside a football-shaped locket.
“They may have taken the flesh, but I have him in the spirit,” Donna told Channel 9′s Hunter Sáenz.
[ PREVIOUS COVERAGE >> ‘We had a bond’: Woman pushes for justice as search continues for son’s killer ]
She continues to grieve with her broken heart, remembering the person who once kept it whole.
“When it was your everything for why you lived, that’s what gets me,” Donna said.
Police say Armani was shot and killed as he rode in a car along the road outside of Northlake Mall. His mother is now suing Northlake Mall, Northlake Commons, their security teams, and others.
“I want to see accountability,” she told Sáenz.
The lawsuit claims that whoever killed Armani was loitering around the mall “long before he followed and killed” him. The suit says security “should have taken some action to expel the trespasser.”
Donna’s attorneys argue it was a “preventable tragedy” and that “none of the security guards or ... companies contacted local authorities to report the assault or seek medical care for Armani.”
[ ALSO READ >> Northlake Mall ownership, American Eagle working on resolution to lawsuit ]
Donna says she feels like Armani’s death could have been prevented if there was more security. She’s suing for negligence and liability.
“I just continue to keep going and doing what I know he would want me to do, and it’s to get justice for him,” Donna said.
We reached out to the owners of Northlake Mall and Northlake Commons for comment, but we haven’t received a response.
(VIDEO: American Eagle calls Northlake Mall ‘reminiscent of warzone’ in counterclaim over lease)
This browser does not support the video element.