Shemar DeAlvin Hayes, a 23-year-old Black man, was a former football standout at Rocky River High School in Charlotte, North Carolina. A talented wide receiver who graduated in 2019, he earned a scholarship to Louisburg College, where he continued his football career. His death was a shock to the local community, especially those who knew him through his athletic endeavors.
On the afternoon of March 12, 2024, at approximately 12:00 p.m., officers from the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police
Department responded to a report of an assault with a deadly weapon. They arrived at the 11600 block of Red Hickory Lane in the city’s Steele Creek Division to find Shemar Hayes suffering from gunshot wounds. According to his father, an assailant had gotten into the passenger side of his son's car and shot him multiple times in the face. Paramedics pronounced Hayes deceased at the scene.
The CMPD Homicide Unit immediately launched an investigation into the killing. Detectives appealed to the public for help, asking residents of the Grier Fork neighborhood and surrounding areas to provide any doorbell camera footage or video surveillance from between 11:45 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. on the day of the homicide. This effort aimed to gather evidence that could lead to the person responsible for Hayes's death.
Through their investigation, detectives identified 18-year-old Tyzavian Smith as a suspect. On March 27, 2024, the department's Violent Criminal Apprehension Team, with assistance from a SWAT team, located Smith at a residence. After a brief standoff, he was taken into custody and transported to the Law Enforcement Center for an interview with detectives. Following the interview, Smith was charged with murder and robbery with a dangerous weapon.
The case concluded in court the following year. On October 16, 2025, Tyzavian Smith pleaded guilty in Mecklenburg County Superior Court to second-degree murder. As part of a plea agreement, the charge of robbery with a dangerous weapon was dismissed. A judge sentenced Smith to serve between 157 and 201 months in prison for the killing of Shemar Hayes.
