A violent family tragedy in Gastonia has ended with a long prison sentence. A 26-year-old stepson will spend at least a quarter century behind bars after admitting he gunned down his stepfather outside their home in January 2023.
Sentence and plea
Christopher Lee Hill, 26, pleaded guilty and received a 25-to-32-year prison term, as reported by WCNC. WCNC noted that Hill was 23 at the time of the Jan. 11, 2023, shooting and that the plea deal took the possibility of a life sentence off the table.
Inside the courtroom
Prosecutors told the court that the victim, 34-year-old Braxton Farquhar, suffered multiple gunshot wounds, and WSOC placed the count at 17. The state presented testimony it said supported a deadly confrontation.
Family members who attended the hearing painted a far more complicated family picture. Relatives told the court Hill acted to protect a 3-year-old brother from alleged abuse and described what they said were years of mistreatment, according to WSOC.
How the night unfolded
Gastonia police say the shooting happened just before 10:30 p.m. on Jan. 11, 2023, on the 100 block of West Sixth Avenue. First responders found Farquhar outside the home, and he was pronounced dead at the scene, according to a City of Gastonia news release.
Detectives later identified Hill as a suspect, and he turned himself in to authorities the next day, with initial coverage by WBTV.
What happens next
With the plea accepted and the sentence handed down, Hill is set to begin serving his term in the state prison system.
The hearing was raw and emotional. Some relatives spoke of the abuse they said plagued the family, while others focused on the years Hill will now spend in prison. One family member told reporters she feared she “won’t be alive when he comes home,” WSOC reported.
