‘I just want to know why’: Grieving mother pleads for community to help identify son’s killer

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (WBTV) - Detectives from the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department are still hoping to identify the person(s) responsible for killing a young man in southwest Charlotte.

Police say the shooting happened Thursday, August 18 just before 2 a.m. Police believe the victim, Dermaine Perea, was driving on I-485 when he was shot. Police said Perea drove to a 7-Eleven off South Tryon Street before calling 9-1-1. He died because of his injuries. He was just 26 years old.

No one has been charged for the deadly shooting.

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Winnie Stevens, Perea’s mother, spoke to WBTV in an interview Tuesday. She described her son as a quiet, private person who did not have a lot of friends. Stevens also noted that her son was not perfect.

“He made mistakes. He followed friends. He did things, but he grew up,” said Stevens. “He was not a perfect child, but he had a heart and he had blood flowing through his veins and someone took that away.”

Stevens still questions who shot her son and why.

“What did he do? What went wrong? What did he do to you? I just want to know why,” explained the grieving mother.

Stevens said she is now pleading for members of the public to help her figure out who killed her son, before the person responsible kills again.

“If we don’t want whoever did this to continually or repeatedly do it to the next person, we have to do something now,” said Stevens.

Detective Rick Smith from the CMPD Crime Stoppers said police do not have a lot of information about the killing and are in need of community assistance. He said it is possible the shooting happened after a road rage incident.

“There’s a possibility it could have been road rage, but again we don’t know. That’s why we’re reaching out to the community for answers,” said Smith.

Anyone with information about the deadly shooting is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 704-334-1600. Tipsters can remain anonymous and they can receive a cash reward if they have information that leads to an arrest. Community members can also submit tips about crimes through the P3 Tips app.

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