On December 9, 2024, at about 6:00 a.m., 25-year-old Christopher Saneth Rosa Castellanos was shot and killed in the parking lot of an apartment complex at 650 Archdale Drive in Charlotte. Emergency medical services pronounced him dead at the scene and the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department opened a homicide investigation. Detectives from the Homicide Unit and Crime Scene Search Unit processed the scene and collected evidence.

Investigators say the shooting occurred during an attempted robbery. Castellanos was preparing for work when two people approached his work truck trying to steal expensive tools. He tried to defend himself and was shot; the suspects fled. On December 11, 2024, police charged 18-year-old Dagoberto Zelaya with first-degree murder and breaking and entering a motor vehicle. A juvenile was also arrested and charged with murder, breaking and entering a motor vehicle, and two counts of larceny of a motor vehicle; the juvenile’s name has not been released.

Family members described Castellanos as a hardworking man who had been sending money to his mother in Honduras, who is battling colon cancer, and who had been working in construction in Charlotte. The investigation is ongoing and authorities are seeking information. Did anyone in the Charlotte area see activity around 650 Archdale Drive that morning or know more about the truck and tools involved?