On the night of July 1, 2023, police in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, were called to an apartment on Burke Village Lane. Inside, they found Sharon Ross, a 55-year-old Black woman, deceased from a gunshot wound to the head. The initial investigation immediately focused on her son, 21-year-old Joshua Isiah Ross.
Officers responded to the scene around 10:45 p.m., though they believed the shooting had occurred about 75 minutes earlier. At first, detectives were told that Sharon and her son, Joshua, had been in a physical altercation over a firearm when she was shot. Witnesses at the scene told officers that Joshua had been acting erratically and said he had killed his mother. He was arrested and charged with murder, and held at the Forsyth County Law Enforcement Detention Center without bond.
As the investigation continued, video evidence showed Joshua Ross leaving and returning to the crime scene several times that night.
Investigators learned that he and his mother had recently argued about his desire to buy a gun, and that she had kicked him out of her apartment. The murder weapon, which was found near the scene, had been purchased by Joshua just two weeks before the shooting.
During questioning, Joshua Ross gave law enforcement several false statements. He first accused a cousin of the shooting, then changed his story to say an unknown assailant was responsible. He eventually admitted to shooting his mother, but claimed it happened accidentally while they struggled over the gun as she tried to take it from him. He also told police he was high at the time of the shooting, but no drugs or drug paraphernalia were ever found.
Joshua Ross was later convicted of second-degree murder for killing his mother. After his family pleaded for mercy, he was sentenced to a minimum of 125 months and a maximum of 165 months in prison. The case was resolved with his sentencing in June 2025.
