A man was found lying facedown near the light rail stop on East Trade Street, just outside the Spectrum Center, shortly after noon on Sept. 13. He was rushed to a hospital, where he later died, and police have so far identified him only as a Hispanic male. The man killed is listed as John Doe in a court affidavit while investigators work to confirm his identity.
Surveillance Video Led Police to a CATS Bus
According to WBTV, an affidavit describes a suspect, identified as Sean Dell, following the victim before the confrontation turned deadly. Dell allegedly fired a shot into the man's abdomen near the busy uptown transit stop. Investigators later found Dell riding a CATS bus, carrying a black backpack that contained a gun, the station reported.
Dell was charged with first-degree murder and possession of a weapon by a convicted felon, per the same account. That second charge falls under North Carolina G.S. 14-415.1, a state statute that bars people with felony convictions from possessing firearms, according to state legislative records. No court disposition, bond status, or attorney information for Dell has been publicly reported.
A Second Uptown-Adjacent Shooting in Weeks
The Spectrum Center shooting comes roughly three weeks after another fatal shooting in east Charlotte. Huber Velazquez, 33, died the evening of Aug. 20 after being shot multiple times during what police described as an altercation with another person, around 6:30 p.m., WBTV reported. Velazquez managed to travel about 200 yards before collapsing in a nearby parking lot, where officers found him while responding to a welfare check.
The Charlotte Fire Department pronounced Velazquez dead at the scene, according to the same WBTV report. Police publicly identified him as the victim two days later, on Aug. 22, and said his family had been notified. A suspect in that case, 32-year-old Luis Gonzalez Zaragoza, was later tracked down and arrested in Baytown, Texas, on Aug. 31, and charged with murder, according to Charlotte Alerts News.
The two cases are separate incidents nearly three weeks apart, involving different suspects and different locations.
Identity of Spectrum Center Victim Still Unconfirmed
As of the latest reporting, the man killed near the Spectrum Center light rail stop remains unidentified in official records, listed only as John Doe pending further investigation. Police have not released additional details about the victim's identity, and the circumstances that led Dell to allegedly follow and confront him on East Trade Street have not been made public.
