On the early morning of December 15, 2025, 44-year-old Albert Lowery was shot and killed while seated in his vehicle in the parking lot of Tender Hearts Child Care on North Sharon Amity Road in Charlotte, North Carolina. Hours earlier, Lowery had interrupted two people trying to steal a catalytic converter from an Acura SUV in the same lot, scaring them off. Surveillance shows a white sedan returned about two and a half hours later, stopped in front of Lowery’s car and the occupants opened fire. Lowery’s wife, Jessica Moss-Lowery, heard the shots from inside the daycare and found him unresponsive; he was pronounced dead at a hospital.

Detectives linked the theft attempt to the subsequent shooting by tracing suspect vehicles on traffic cameras and analyzing digital evidence. Two men, 33-year-old Rethanachantra Em and 32-year-old Borein Ngiem, were identified; investigators say their texts coordinated movements before the shooting and advised each other to stay lowkey afterward. Both were arrested the Thursday after the homicide and charged with first-degree murder and felony conspiracy; additional weapons and theft-related charges were filed against each man.

Did anyone in the area see the white sedan or the older black Honda Civic that fled after the initial theft attempt?