Stephen Jerome Carroll II, 39, a Black/African American male, was shot just before midnight on August 2, 2025, along the 6200 block of South Boulevard near Archdale Drive in south Charlotte. Officers from the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department responded to reports of gunfire and found Stephen Jerome Carroll II with a gunshot wound; medics rushed him to a nearby hospital, where he was pronounced dead in the early hours of August 3.
Public records and memorial notices list his age as 39 and confirm his death in Charlotte that weekend.
Detectives quickly developed leads indicating a robbery intertwined with the shooting. CMPD identified 29-year-old Steven Downing Jr. as a suspect, obtained warrants, and took him into custody on August 3. He was charged with murder and robbery with a dangerous weapon; police noted the case under report number 20250802-2355-00. Local outlets reported that the homicide unfolded near the light-rail corridor on South Boulevard, and investigators interviewed Downing Jr. at CMPD’s Law Enforcement Center after his arrest.
Community tributes in the days that followed remembered Stephen Jerome Carroll II, 39, by name and age, marking the sudden loss and the narrow passage of time between the late-night attack and his death. Funeral home notices set services for the following weekend, while online memorials recorded that he was “lost to gun violence” in Charlotte on August 2.
