Daniel Jose Morales was 19 when he was found dead in Charlotte, North Carolina, on December 5, 2021. Police first responded to an assault with a deadly weapon call just before 3 a.m. on Ann Elizabeth Drive; witnesses told officers the victim had been taken to a hospital by a third party. About 30 minutes later officers located a gunshot victim in a vehicle on the 2000 block of East Independence Boulevard. Daniel Jose Morales was found there and pronounced dead at the scene.

Investigators learned Morales had received a phone call that led him to leave his home; his father, Jose Morales, said there was no reason for him to be out unless someone had called him. The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department connected the two incidents and classified the death a justified homicide. On December 28, 2021, the Mecklenburg County District Attorney’s Office agreed with detectives and no charges were filed. No arrests were made and no suspects were identified.

If anyone witnessed either scene that night or has information about who called Daniel, please come forward.