On November 19, 2024, at about 5:30 p.m., 53-year-old Ronnie Leon Ruth was fatally shot inside the Fast Mart convenience store on Tom Hunter Road in northeast Charlotte. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department officers responded and Ruth was pronounced dead at the scene. Witnesses described the shooting as a quick, unprovoked act: the suspect entered the store, immediately committed the shooting, and fled. There was no sign of a robbery or a prior altercation before the attack.

Two days later, on November 21, 2024, police arrested 52-year-old Sharrieff Ellis Gray and charged him with first-degree murder; he is being held without bond. Ruth, known as Cornbread, was a lifelong resident of the Hidden Valley community, born January 15, 1971. A mason and floor tiler by trade, he also deejayed and cooked at local events and was remembered for his music, cooking, sports and gardening. Funeral services were held November 30, 2024, at New Waves of Joy Baptist Church.

Who knew Ronnie Cornbread or saw anything near the Fast Mart on November 19 that could help investigators?