Shanika Nicole Gamble, 47, was shot to death on the evening of June 14, 2025, in east Charlotte. Officers were dispatched around 8:43 p.m. to the 3300 block of Magnolia Hill Drive, just off Eastway Drive, for an assault with a deadly weapon call. MEDIC pronounced Gamble dead at the scene; the homicide unit, crime scene technicians, and victim services responded and detectives canvassed the apartment complex that night.

Early reports placed the shooting in a parking lot and noted a narrow window of time between the call for help and the confirmation of death, a detail neighbors pointed to as suggesting a swift, targeted encounter rather than a prolonged confrontation. On June 20, 2025, police announced the arrest of 72-year-old James Hampton Evans on a charge of first-degree murder; court records tie Evans to the case. Authorities have not publicly explained why the encounter happened in that parking lot or what, if anything, connected Gamble and Evans before the shooting.

Does anyone who lived near Magnolia Hill Drive or knew Shanika have information that could help investigators?