A man was shot and killed by a former prosecutor after the man allegedly shot his grandmother in her leg and caused her to drive her car into a telephone pole in east Charlotte, police said.
The shooting occurred Tuesday morning about 9:39 a.m. in the 1200 block of Pegram Street.
Degarrian Santonia Coleman, 31, was driving with his grandmother on Pegram Street when the two started arguing. Coleman then shot the grandmother in her leg and she crashed the car into a telephone pole, police said.
According to friends and relatives of Coleman, the man was a sufferer of post traumatic stress and hallucinations. However, the reason for the shooting is unclear.
Coleman and his grandmother got out of the vehicle, then Coleman kept shooting the grandmother.
Stephen Sellers, a homeowner and former prosecutor close by, heard the shots as he was preparing to leave for work.
According to Sellers’s attorney George Laughrun, Seller heard the woman yelling, “Don’t shoot me.” That’s when Sellers came outside to find Coleman waving his gun at the grandmother while she hid between cars and pleaded that Coleman not shoot her.
Sellers then retrieved his rifle and shot a warning shot about 30 to 40 feet from Coleman, while telling the gunman to drop the gun. When the man didn’t put the gun down, Sellers fired three additional shots and hit Coleman in his chest.
The grandmother was transported to Carolinas Medical Center for treatment.
Coleman was also taken to the hospital, where he was later pronounced as dead.
From September 2011 until March 2014, Sellers had been a Assistant District Attorney, most of the time working as part of the Misdemeanor Team.
The case is being investigated to determine if any charges will be filed against Sellers, according to the District Attorney.
Police ask anyone with information on the shooting to speak with a Homicide Unit Detective at 704-432-TIPS or Crime Stoppers at 704-334-1600 or http://charlottecrimestoppers.com.
