One person was pronounced dead at the scene by the Charlotte Fire Department, and MEDIC transported another person after an incident Saturday night on the 4900 block of Round Pond Road in northeast Charlotte. The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department is investigating the incident as a homicide.
The surviving victim was transported with injuries, according to MEDIC, as reported by WCNC Charlotte.
A Familiar Stretch of Northeast Charlotte
The 4900 block of Round Pond Road falls within CMPD's University City Patrol Division, which covers roughly 46.8 square miles in northeast Charlotte as part of the department's Patrol Northeast Service Area, according to City of Charlotte planning documents. The division operates alongside the Hickory Grove and North Tryon divisions in patrolling the area.
This is not the first violent incident reported near this same road corridor. In December 2025, CMPD opened a homicide investigation on Kirk Farm Lane near the East W.T. Harris Boulevard and Old Concord Road interchange after a victim was found deceased near an apartment complex, as Hoodline reported in its piece, homicide probe near apartment complex. No suspect was immediately named at the time of that discovery.
Citywide Homicide Numbers Tick Upward
The Round Pond Road incident comes as CMPD data shows homicides have ticked up slightly even as broader violent crime has fallen. In the first half of 2026, CMPD recorded 40 homicides across Charlotte, a 3% increase from the 39 reported over the same period in 2025, even as overall violent crime dropped 8% citywide, per CMPD statistics. Officials have said escalating personal disputes drove that slight increase in fatal violence despite reductions in robbery and assault.
The trend was even sharper earlier in the year: CMPD reported 22 homicides in the first quarter of 2026 compared to 16 during the same period in 2025, a 38% spike. The department reported a 75% homicide clearance rate for the first half of 2026. For all of 2025, CMPD reported a 21% decrease in violent crime and a 9% drop in overall crime compared to 2024.
Digital Tools Detectives Can Draw On
CMPD uses Axon's Fusus camera registry. The department's Real-Time Crime Center, active since 2013, separately connects to more than 1,000 cameras and at least 95 fixed automated license plate readers across the municipality, according to the Atlas of Surveillance.
Case Update
Baron Deshawn Crawford has been charged with murder in the Round Pond Road case, and the deceased was identified as John Joseph Perry. The University City area has seen a string of violent crime investigations in recent months, including a double shooting on Kittansett Drive reported in Hoodline's overnight Kittansett Drive shooting coverage.
