Police looking to identify suspect in Matthews homicide

MATTHEWS, N.C. (WBTV) - Detectives from the Matthews Police Department are working to figure out who is responsible for the December killing of a Kannapolis man.

The killing happened Tuesday, Dec. 15. Police were called to 2008 Moore Road in Matthews shortly before 1:30 p.m. about a single-car wreck and an injured driver.

Police said they found the driver unconscious and with a gunshot wound to the head. The victim was identified as Dashawn Ray Gene Dean, 27, of Kannapolis. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

WBTV spoke to Dean’s mother, Rachelle Armstrong, Wednesday. She described her son as ‘full of life’ with a passion for music.

“He’s just an overall loving person with a big smile, big heart,” Armstrong said.

The grieving mother said she was heartbroken to learn her son had been killed. She said her family has been unable to celebrate the holidays because of what happened.

“It’s just been hard and devastating since then,” she said.

The grieving mother said she is unsure why her son was in Matthews the day he was killed.

“I don’t know who he would be (meeting) in Matthews or why he would be there and that’s the puzzling part,” the heartbroken Armstrong said.

Officer Tim Aycock, the public information officer for the Matthews Police Department, spoke to WBTV about the investigation into Dean’s killing.

“Detectives have a lot of good information they’re working on and some leads,” Aycock said. “We need more. We want more information. A case significant like this, we want all the information and details we can get our hands on to find out how this happened and ‘why’.”

Aycock said homicides have been uncommon in Matthews.

“We’ve been fortunate. We usually don’t have very many at all if any. I think this is the first one we’ve had in almost two years,” he said.

Armstrong is pleading for anyone with information about her son’s killing to come forward and speak to police.

“If you know anything, if you know why he was there, if you know who he was meeting with, I just ask you to contact Matthews Police Department and please give him that because he didn’t deserve that and somebody knows something,” she said.

Anyone with information about Dean’s killing is asked to contact Detective Daniel Michalak at dmichalak@mattthewsnc.gov or 704-841-6793.

Related: Man dead after shooting, wreck in Matthews, officials say

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