CHARLOTTE, N.C. — More than two years and eight months after a man was shot and killed in Charlotte in 2018, the Charlotte Mecklenburg Police Department says they have two suspects in custody accused of the killing. One of those two suspects was already in custody and charged in an unrelated murder case.
In a news release on Aug. 16, 2021, CMPD said they were able to charge 21-year-old Juan Deras Escalante and 20-year-old Mario Jose Ramirez-Duarte for the December 2018 murder of Tyron Jodie Ervin. CMPD noted Escalante was already in custody for a murder he allegedly committed in 2019. Meanwhile, Ramirez-Duarte was taken into custody without incident on Aug. 15, 2021.
The murder both suspects were tied to happened on December 17, 2018. According to CMPD, both men are accused of shooting the 22-year-old Ervin along Fishers Pond Drive at The Retreat at McAlpine Creek apartment complex. Officers responded there just before 11:30 a.m. that day, but Ervin was pronounced dead on the scene.
Escalante, however, would be arrested less than five months later for a different murder. He was 18 at the time when he and 17-year-old Gerardo Lagunes were charged with the murder of Domingo Venancio-Tapia. CMPD says Venancio-Tapia was shot and killed while standing in front of the Restaurante Lempira along South Boulevard just before 11 p.m. on April 30, 2019, and Escalante was only arrested after SWAT officers got involved when he barricaded himself inside a home along Coulee Place.
CMPD credited their homicide detectives for their investigation, which resulted in Escalante being served with warrants while in custody. He will remain in custody with the Mecklenburg County Sheriff's Office. Ramirez-Duarte was also served his warrant after being taken into custody.
While these two suspects have been arrested, the investigation is still ongoing. Anyone with information is asked to call 704-432-TIPS and speak directly to a Homicide Unit detective or leave anonymous Crime Stoppers tips online or by calling 704-334-1600.
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