Reward offered in 21-year-old college student’s Memorial Day shooting death

CHARLOTTE — The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department is offering a reward to find whoever opened fire outside a home on Memorial Day, killing a 21-year-old college student.

Sherilyn “Alicia” Drew was a rising senior in her studies for a biology degree from Georgia State University and had returned home to Charlotte to visit family during summer break, according to CMPD.

Police said just after midnight on May 31, Drew was shot and killed by suspects who pulled in front of her family’s home on Twin Brook Drive and opened fire.

“She was inside her room, working on one of her hobbies, when they opened fire,” Lt. Bryan Crum said. “One of the rounds struck Alicia and killed her.”

Investigators said they believe the suspects might have mistaken her home for another person’s.

“Based on our investigation, it had nothing to do with Alicia and nothing to do with her family,” Crum said.

Drew’s family hopes someone in the community will come forward with information that will lead to the arrest of her killers. A reward of up to $5,000 is being offered in her case.

According to police, there is an upward trend in cases where homes and vehicles are being shot into. Twenty-seven percent more homes and vehicles have reportedly been shot into than last year at this time. Police said in many of the 499 cases this year, both children and adults have been struck by gunfire, and several have lost their lives.

Police said that when homes and vehicles are shot into, information from the public is pivotal when it comes to making arrests. Many of the cases are generally retaliatory in nature, and detectives rely heavily upon information from witnesses and evidence gathered from the scene to solve the cases.

During a press conference Wednesday morning, Lt. Joan Gallant highlighted seven cases where arrests have been made.

• Trejuan Coleman, DOB: 02/07/1987, was charged for shooting into a vehicle with four children and two adults inside of it. The ages of the children inside the vehicle were one, four, seven and seven-year-old, and the one-year-old was unfortunately struck by one of the several rounds Coleman fired into the vehicle.
• Vadoll Byars, DOB: 06/04/1994, was charged for shooting into an occupied vehicle with the victim’s own firearm. The suspect, who knew the victim, stole the victim’s purse, removed the firearm from the purse, and shot into the victim’s vehicle while she was leaving. She was struck in the shoulder.
• David Hollowell, DOB: 04/28/1981, was charged for shooting into a vehicle on I-485. This incident occurred during peak traffic volumes shortly before 8 a.m. on Monday, May 14, 2021. Howell did not know the two people inside the vehicle but shot into the vehicle after a merging dispute. The victims were fortunately unharmed.
• Christopher Garland, DOB: 11/24/2001, was arrested for a May 1, 2021 incident where he shot into an apartment in Tanglewood following a fight. Fortunately, the infant and four adults inside the residence were not physically harmed.
• Tammy Boyd, DOB: 06/09/1998, and Katelyn McIntyre, DOB: 04/20/1999, were charged for shooting into a vehicle occupied by three people, one of which was a three-year-old child. The shooting, which was posted on social media, stemmed from a fight between a number of females. Fortunately, no one was physically harmed.
• Shirez Sinclair, DOB: 12/23/1995, was charged for shooting into an occupied apartment following proactive, third-shift officers’ attention to detail. On April 26, 2021, officers heard gunshots and then saw a vehicle being driven at a high rate of speed with no lights on. Officers were able to make contact with the vehicle, and their investigation ended with the arrest of Sinclair. They discovered the shooting was the result of an illicit drug transaction in the parking lot of a CVS pharmacy. Multiple shell casings were found in the area, and a home with a 6-year-old girl and an adult had been struck. Fortunately, no one was physically harmed.
• Jamel Daniels, DOB: 02/19/1998, and Tyrell Brace, DOB: 01/02/1997, were arrested following a shooting that occurred on April 13, 2021 in a parking lot of the Tanglewood Apartments. Their dispute, which began when Daniels nearly ran over someone with his car, turned into gunfire. An apartment was struck during the gunfire, but fortunately, the four victims inside, which included a three and five-year-old, were physically unharmed.

Anyone with information about Drew’s case or another case where a vehicle or home is shot into is asked to leave the information anonymously with Crimes Stoppers by calling 704-334-1600 or going online here.

Any information left with Crime Stoppers concerning shooting into occupied property cases is eligible for up to $1,000 when it leads to an arrest.

Any information leading to an arrest in Drew’s case is eligible for up to a $5,000 reward.

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