3-Year-Old Dead After Unknown Gunmen Rained Down 80 Gunshots On Charlotte Home

A 3-year-old boy was killed after unknown gunmen allegedly fired more than 80 rounds of gunshots into a Charlotte, North Carolina home just before midnight on Tuesday, Sept. 7.

Asiah Figueroa, 3, who was asleep in his great-grandmother’s house in North Carolina, died after several unidentified suspects fired more than 80 rounds into the residence just before midnight on Richard Rozzelle Drive. Figueroa's 4-year-old sister was also grazed during the gunfire and is expected to survive, New York Daily News reported.

Video footage recovered from a neighbor's ring camera shows two cars stopping outside the house and two gunmen firing at the front door before driving off again.

“At first I thought, I thought I heard gunshots but I really didn’t know. But then when I heard them hitting the door, I knew someone was shooting at my house,” Susie Whitley, the homeowner, said.

"When I went into his room, my grandson was in there, was holding him and he said, ‘Grandma, I think he’s gone.’ I didn’t want to believe it,” Whitley lamented.

Police officers responded to the house after they were informed of the shooting at around 11:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 7. When they arrived, they found the child with gunshot wounds and immediately rushed him to a hospital. However, the boy succumbed to his injuries and died later that night, WBTV reported.

“How can you wake up this morning knowing that your actions last night took the life of a 3-year-old, who will never get the opportunity to grow up and play, as you have?” Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department (CMPD) Chief Johnny Jennings said as he spoke directly to the suspects.

A neighbor who wished to remain anonymous said that she was left “devastated” by what happened in the neighborhood.

”I just have condolences for the family and I am devastated we had this kind of tragedy in this area,” said the woman.

There have been 661 shootings into occupied properties this 2021, as of Sept. 5, about an 11 percent increase when compared to 2020, according to the CMPD. There have also been nine teenage deaths under the age of 18 currently classified as homicides, police said.

Investigators have not made an arrest or named suspects in the shooting. Anyone with information related to the shooting is asked to reach out to Crimestoppers at (704) 334-1600 or (704) 432-TIPS.