Seventeen-year-old Vladimir Antonio Garcia left home on the morning of July 7, 2022, and was found with a gunshot wound just before 7 a.m. in a church parking lot off Sofley Road, between West Sugar Creek Road and West Craighead Road. MEDIC pronounced him dead at the scene. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police identified him publicly the next day and described the investigation as active and ongoing.

Police say the case evolved from a mysterious early-morning killing into a focused manhunt. On July 25, 2022, officers announced they had identified a suspect, 18-year-old Angel Manuel Basurto-Mendoza, and he was taken into custody after a multi-jurisdictional pursuit that crossed into York County, South Carolina. Warrants filed by investigators charged Basurto-Mendoza with murder, robbery with a dangerous weapon, and conspiracy to commit robbery with a dangerous weapon, and police said the probe remained active while detectives continued to seek witnesses who were on or near Sofley Road that morning. As of those reports, no other suspects had been publicly charged.

Did anyone on or near Sofley Road that day see something that could help investigators or the victim’s family?