In the early hours of Thursday morning, tragedy struck in a quiet neighborhood in northwest Charlotte. Kwandarrius Howze, a 24-year-old with dreams of becoming a long-haul truck driver, lost his life in a senseless act of violence. As the details of this heartbreaking incident unfold, his family is left grappling with grief and unanswered questions.
The shooting occurred at Kwandarrius’s apartment on Park Fairfax Drive, a place where he should have been safe. His family, including his grandmother, Connie Howze, were inside the apartment when the unthinkable happened. Connie, in her own words, said, “I’ve done cried so much, I don’t think I can cry no more.” It’s a pain no family should ever have to endure.
The incident unfolded at around 5:30 a.m., a time when most people are still fast asleep. Someone fired shots into the apartment where Kwandarrius and his mother’s four children, aged 2 to 11, were present. Kwandarrius’s mother, upstairs with the other children, heard the gunshots and immediately rushed downstairs. What she discovered was a heart-wrenching scene: Kwandarrius on the floor, struggling for his life. Tragically, he passed away in his mother’s arms. Thankfully, no one else was physically harmed during the shooting, but the emotional scars run deep.
Kwandarrius had dreams and aspirations like any young person. He was working towards a career as a long-haul truck driver, a path filled with promise and adventure. But all of that was taken away in an instant, leaving his family devastated and searching for answers.
Connie Howze, Kwandarrius’s grandmother, had a poignant message for the person responsible for this tragedy: “Put the guns down, get up, and get yourself together because it’s not fair for a family to have to suffer and to have to plan a funeral for a perfectly healthy person.” Her words echo the sentiments of countless families who have been affected by gun violence across the country.
Perhaps the most heart-wrenching aspect of this story is the innocence of the children involved. One of them is Kwandarrius’s 8-year-old sister, who is now left with questions that no child should ever have to ask. “Are we gonna see Dee anymore?” she wonders. “Is he coming back? Does heaven give you food, because I know my brother is hungry.” These questions serve as a painful reminder of the loss they’ve endured.
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