HIGH POINT, N.C. (WGHP) — New details have emerged after a man was arrested and charged with shooting and killing a 15-year-old on Tuesday morning in High Point, according to a news release from High Point police.
Davonte T. Strickland, 25, of High Point, is charged with first-degree murder and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. He received no bond.
Strickland's previous charges include evading arrests and hit and run involving property damage, which happened in Granville County in 2018. He was under supervised probation.
Court records have identified the victim as 15-year-old Tre'Corious Bethea.
Tuesday around 2:15 a.m. authorities received calls that roughly 25 shots were heard coming from the 511 area of Radford Street in High Point.
At the scene, officers found Bethea with two gunshot wounds to the chest and one gunshot wound to the arm.
He was taken to Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center where he died from his injuries.
Police believe Stickland shot Bethea after seeing people on his property tampering with a vehicle.
Two vehicles, a Cadillac and a Jeep were found with at least one bullet hole in each of them as well.
Three other juveniles were taken into custody during the course of the investigation. Investigators say they received no cooperation or detailed account of the events that led to the homicide.
Authorities believed that he, and his associates, were trying to break into a vehicle at 511 Radford Street, where Davonte Strickland lives.
He then allegedly fired off those 25 shots at the individuals; hitting and killing the 15-year-old.
Authorities say that Strickland is not known to have had any previous association with these juveniles.
Chief Stroud did, however, say that these four juveniles were known very well to authorities and allegedly had a history of committing vehicle break-ins and that it's possible they tried to break into other vehicles in the area, but have not seen any evidence of anything being taken.
Because the juveniles were suspected of committing some sort of crime, Stroud did address the idea of that Strickland's shooting was justified, commenting that their investigation of the situation is ongoing.
“To use the firearm in the way that it was, you’d have to be fearful of your life. You’re outside of your own house, you had to come out to do this. So, just taking this into context anywhere else, if it’s me at my house – I need to be in fear of my life to make sure I can use my firearm, and I’m not sure that we have that in play. At least, from what we’re seeing from the investigative information that we got,” Stroud told FOX8.
High Point police are still investigating the case.