CHARLOTTE — Chaos unfolded at Romare Bearden Park in Uptown Charlotte just as the clock struck midnight on New Year’s Eve. A group of teenagers were involved in a melee that turned into a shooting.
Police cracked down and cited the teens’ parents, saying they should be held accountable.
Six months later, Channel 9′s Joe Bruno learned that many of those charges against the parents are being dropped.
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Lua Pene’s mother, Amanda Salazar, was one of five people shot in the park on New Year’s Eve. The recovery process has been slow, and at times, triggering.
“If we are watching a movie and someone gets shot,” Lua told Bruno.
The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department identified the shooter as Daeveon Crawford. He’s still behind bars on a $1.5 million bond. But it wasn’t just him arrested -- 11 kids were charged, and CMPD issued citations to seven parents of the kids for contributing to the delinquency of a minor.
Channel 9 found court records showing that four of the seven parents had their citations dropped by the Mecklenburg County District Attorney’s Office.
Court paperwork claims the charges were dropped due to “insufficient evidence.”
Two of the remaining three parents with pending charges have court hearings next week. It’s unclear if their charges will be dropped too.
Speaking with her daughter, Salazar said she’s disappointed.
“She says she feels kind of sad and disappointed because she feels like the parents should have some type of responsibility towards their child,” Lua said.
The district attorney’s office didn’t provide any additional comment on the cases.
We’ve reached out to CMPD for a comment on the charges being dropped.
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