Two Charlotte teenagers who were 15 years old when they opened fire into an occupied northeast Charlotte apartment last year, killing 15-year-old Avion Dingle, have pleaded guilty and were sentenced yesterday in Mecklenburg County Court. Nasir Anthony Bernard Baker, now 17, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and conspiracy to commit first-degree murder, while Cameron Alexander Hamilton, also 17, pleaded guilty to accessory after the fact to second-degree murder.
Baker was sentenced to between 196 and 248 months in prison, or roughly 16 to 20 years, with credit for 379 days already served, according to Queen City News. Hamilton received a sentence of 51 to 74 months, or roughly four to six years, with credit for 95 days served. As part of the plea deals, prosecutors dismissed two counts of shooting into an occupied dwelling against Baker, and dropped first-degree murder and conspiracy charges against Hamilton.
A Courtroom Confrontation Months in the Making
During Tuesday's hearing, Dingle's mother delivered a victim impact statement directly to Hamilton, saying he had taunted our family for months and describing him as smirking in court, according to WCNC. She also testified that Baker had stood outside the courtroom and laughed at her during earlier court appearances, the station reported. The defense argued in court that both teens had people who wanted to harm them before the homicide occurred, according to the Queen City News report.
The shooting happened the night of June 26, 2025, when emergency dispatchers received multiple 911 calls around 10:30 p.m. reporting gunshots fired into an occupied apartment at the Platform Lofts complex in the 1000 block of Merrick Street near North Tryon Street. Officers arrived to find Dingle dead at the scene. A 30-year-old woman and four children between the ages of 3 and 14 were also inside the apartment when the shots hit, though they were not harmed, per the same reporting.
Investigation Led to Two Arrests Weeks Apart
Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department's Violent Criminal Apprehension Team arrested Baker on July 10, 2025, roughly two weeks after the shooting, and detectives arrested Hamilton on July 30, 2025, following what the City of Charlotte described as more than a month of evidence-gathering by CMPD homicide detectives. Hoodline previously covered Hamilton's arrest in July 2025 as well as CMPD's initial call for tips after the shooting.
Under North Carolina law, intentionally discharging a firearm into an occupied building that results in death can be prosecuted as first-degree felony murder, which carries a mandatory sentence of life imprisonment without parole, according to a legal explainer citing UNC School of Government guidance published by Amburgey Law. That statute underscores just how significant the plea agreements were for both teens, who avoided the harsher charges prosecutors could have pursued.
Case Fits a Troubling Local Pattern
CMPD reported a 58% increase in juvenile suspects involved in firearm assaults during the first half of 2026, with officials observing that minor arguments among teens are increasingly escalating into gun violence, WCNC reported. CMPD Deputy Chief Ryan Butler has noted that teens are increasingly choosing firearms over physical fights to defend themselves, according to that same report. The pattern isn't new: in the first half of 2024, CMPD recorded 12 juveniles charged with homicide, a 300% surge compared to the same period the year before, with juvenile homicide victimizations rising 75% over that span.
To address the trend, CMPD relies on specialized units including the Juvenile Accountability and Diversion Empowerment unit and the Juvenile Priority Offender Strategy Team, which monitor high-risk youth and work to seize illegal guns. JADE officers conducted dozens of home visits and seized 72 firearms in early 2025 alone, according to the City of Charlotte. Still, CMPD's 2025 end-of-year public safety report found that overall crime in Charlotte dropped 9% and violent crime fell 21% that year, with homicides down 13% and a 79% homicide clearance rate.
State public health data indicates that 39% of all homicides in Mecklenburg County stem from interpersonal arguments or disputes, with young males facing the highest rate of violent death, according to the North Carolina Department of Public Safety. Firearms were involved in 85% of Mecklenburg County homicides over a 10-year period, the same state data shows. Dingle's case, which began with a dispute that ended in gunfire tearing through a family's home, sits squarely within that pattern local officials continue to grapple with.
