Police charge suspect weeks after woman found shot to death in woods in east Charlotte

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department announced Friday the arrest of a man accused of shooting and killing a woman in east Charlotte earlier this month.

Police said 20-year-old Asyini Levarius Miller is charged with the murder of 22-year-old Arianna Edmonds.

(Miller)

Officers were called just before 9 a.m. Sept. 4 to Biscayne Drive, near Central Avenue and Eastway Drive, where a passerby found a woman in the woods behind the Food Lion.

She had been shot several times, according to police.

The victim, identified by police as Edmonds, was pronounced dead at the scene.

The scene is near Eastway Middle School and Charlotte-Mecklenburg school officials said the school was placed on lockdown for about 15 minutes before officers determined there was no danger.

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This happened not long after Lashawn Austin put her daughter on the bus.

"I was panicking because my daughter had texted me and said there was an emergency at the school. They had to go to Merry Oaks. Finally, I got through to the school, and they told me it was a lockdown," Austin said.

Biscayne Drive was roped off with crime scene tape as detectives focused on gathering any evidence they could.

"The question is whether she died here or she was found here. We don't know that yet," said CMPD Maj. Mike Campagna.

Channel 9 spoke with several people who live nearby or shop at the shopping center close to the scene. They all said the area is usually pretty quiet.

"I mean, you really don't hear about that around here," resident Mitch Childress said.

Police said Miller is charged with murder, first-degree kidnapping and assault on a female.

Cox Media Group