‘We can’t bring him back’: 3 years, no arrests in deadly shooting of 18-year-old

CHARLOTTE — A family is desperate to find out who killed their 18-year-old son.

Turning 18 is monumental. It’s a time when so many plan their future. But two weeks after Damontae Austin turned 18, his family was planning his funeral.

Friday marked three years since someone shot and killed Austin.

“My grandson is gone,” Claudette Allen said. “He was 18 when he left here. We can’t bring him back.”

Austin’s family returned to Avalon Avenue in northwest Charlotte with the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department. That’s where investigators say someone shot and killed Austin on July 26, 2021.

“He was doing what normal 18-year-olds would be doing, hanging out with friends, when he was shot and killed,” said CMPD Lt. Brandon Overcash.

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Channel 9′s Erika Jackson sat down with Overcash, who said he’s investigated hundreds of violent crime cases since joining CMPD. He’s spent the last three years trying to figure out who killed Austin.

“It kind of broke my heart reading through what he went through, and how senseless it was and how quickly and unfortunately it occurred,” he said.

Tragedy actually struck Austin’s family twice in 2021. Investigators say Austin was related to 4-year-old Majelic Young, whose body was found in a shallow grave two months before Austin’s death.

“When we began looking into Damontae and his family, we realized they were part of the same family,” Overcash said. “We do not believe these cases are related.”

Majelic’s mother, Malikah Bennett, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder for the girl’s death.

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Lt. Overcash said his team wants to provide closure for Austin’s death.

“Over the course of the past three years, we look at what evidence we have, has there been a change in the technology or the manner we can test evidence? And then we reevaluate those cases,” Overcash said.

Austin’s loved ones hope whoever pulled the trigger will speak up.

“We want it to be known that we still remember him,” said his mother Antoinette Austin. “We need everybody else to remember him. And we need somebody to come forward.”

CMPD wants anyone with information to give them a call. You can leave an anonymous tip through Crime Stoppers: 704-334-1600.

(WATCH BELOW: Deadly shooting of Charlotte inn worker remains unsolved after 16 years)

Deadly shooting of Charlotte inn worker remains unsolved after 16 years

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