Jahlen McDonald, 25, male, Black/African American, was found mortally wounded just after midnight on Saturday, May 31, 2025, inside a home on the 9300 block of Broken Pine Lane in north Charlotte. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police officers responding to an assault with a deadly weapon call discovered the 25-year-old at the scene; he was pronounced dead where he lay.
By that evening authorities publicly identified the victim as Jahlen McDonald, 25, and confirmed the location and timing of the shooting in their early reports.
Detectives from CMPD’s Homicide Unit took over, canvassing the neighborhood and piecing together the final movements that led to the gunfire. Court filings later noted that there had been an argument with a woman inside the residence before the shooting, a detail that helped frame the minutes before officers arrived. Even as family and friends began preparing services to honor him, the investigation moved quickly from a chaotic overnight call to a focused manhunt.
Within hours, detectives identified a suspect: 24-year-old Thomas Cartee III. Officers located and arrested him without incident on May 31, and he was taken to the Law Enforcement Center to be interviewed. Afterward, police announced that Cartee faced charges of murder and robbery with a dangerous weapon, signaling investigators’ belief that the killing was entwined with a robbery at the home.
By the start of June, local outlets and police updates aligned on the essential timeline: the shooting shortly after midnight, the victim identified as Jahlen McDonald, 25, the swift identification of 24-year-old Thomas Cartee III as the suspect, and his arrest that same day. Authorities indicated the case would continue to be developed by homicide detectives, even as the community mourned and the family marked his passing with public memorial plans.
