A man has been arrested in connection with the shooting death of 4-year-old Caleb Flax, who was killed after stray bullets tore through his family's northwest Charlotte home while he slept earlier this month. Terrance Jackson Jr. now faces a charge of accessory after the fact in the case, which had gone without an arrest for days after the gunfire left one child dead and an adult woman seriously wounded.
Police said Jackson helped sell the stolen vehicle that was used during the shooting, and investigators said his actions helped the suspects escape in the deadly shooting, according to WSOC TV. The outlet's report did not include a full charging document or additional detail on how the vehicle was obtained or who else may have been involved.
Gunfire Tore Through Grassy Patch Lane Before Dawn
The shooting happened around 3 a.m. on Sept. 20 on Grassy Patch Lane, where several shots were fired and struck four homes and multiple vehicles, according to WBTV. Caleb was asleep inside his home when the gunfire hit, and he died at the hospital from his injuries, the station's report says.
Accounts of the exact time of death differ. One report from the same station says Caleb was rushed to a local hospital with life-threatening injuries and died shortly after 7 a.m., while a separate account put his death at 7:18 a.m. An adult woman was also shot and was treated for serious, non-life-threatening injuries, per the same account.
Police Report Listed Far More Potential Victims
A Charlotte-Mecklenburg police incident report listed 14 other victims connected to the shooting, though only Caleb and the injured woman appeared to have actually been struck by gunfire, the station's report notes. That detail underscored just how many homes and residents were caught up in the early-morning violence on a single street.
Two days after the shooting, Charlotte police issued a video statement asking the public to share any information or doorbell camera footage that might help the investigation. At that point, investigators believed several people may have been involved, but no arrests had been made as of that Tuesday, Sept. 22, the outlet reported.
Accessory Charge Carries Its Own Legal Weight
Under North Carolina law, a person who becomes an accessory after the fact to a felony is guilty of a crime and can be indicted and convicted either alongside the principal offender or afterward, according to the North Carolina General Assembly. The statute does not specify the exact punishment tied to the charge against Jackson, and it does not itself establish the allegations against him.
Family members held a vigil for Caleb in the days after his death, pleading for answers as the investigation continued without a named suspect. The child's death fits into a grim pattern of young children struck by stray gunfire while simply sleeping in their own homes; a similar case in Dallas left a 10-year-old boy recovering in the hospital after a stray bullet hit him in bed, according to FOX 4 Dallas-Fort Worth.
It remains unclear whether additional arrests will follow in Caleb's case, and no further details on the identities of the suspected shooters, a motive, or a description of the vehicle involved have been made public.
