Jeffery Boular

Jeffery Bernard Boular, an African-American man known to his loved ones as “Lil Jeffrey,” was just 19 years old and looking forward to the rest of his life. He was remembered as a beloved figure among his family and his many friends throughout Charlotte, North Carolina. His life was abruptly and violently cut short on a warm Tuesday afternoon, leaving a void in his community that is still felt to this day.

The tragic event unfolded on June 17, 2008, in the West Charlotte neighborhood near Columbus Circle. Around 2:45 p.m., Jeffery was outside a home on Marlowe Avenue when a car, described by witnesses as a red Dodge Magnum, drove past. A man inside the vehicle, identified only as a dark-skinned Black male, opened fire, spraying the residence with multiple bullets in a brazen drive-by shooting. Jeffery was struck by the gunfire. Inside the house, another person was hit in the leg but survived with non-life-threatening injuries. Several children were also inside the home at the time, but miraculously, none of them were physically harmed.

The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department (CMPD) responded to the chaotic scene. Paramedics rushed Jeffery to Carolinas Medical Center, but his injuries were too severe, and he was pronounced dead. The shooting marked the 36th homicide in Charlotte that year. The investigation was significant enough that the new police chief, Rodney Monroe, personally visited the crime scene on what was his first anniversary of taking the job. His presence was a small comfort to a grieving family. Detectives began piecing together evidence and witness statements, noting that the suspect vehicle may have had a Florida license plate. Child Development Community Policing officers and counselors were also dispatched to the scene to provide support to the children who had witnessed the terrifying event.

In the days and weeks that followed, police appealed to the public for help, urging anyone with information to contact CrimeStoppers. Despite these pleas and the initial leads, the investigation stalled. No suspects were publicly identified, and no arrests were made. The red Dodge Magnum and its armed and dangerous driver seemed to vanish, leaving Jeffery’s family with unanswered questions and a profound sense of loss. The case eventually went cold, another unsolved file in the records of the CMPD Homicide Unit.

A year after the murder, on June 17, 2009, family and friends gathered at the site of the shooting for a vigil. They held onto their memories of Jeffery and released balloons into the sky to mark the painful anniversary. His cousin, Tiera Witherspoon, spoke about the enduring grief the family felt. "Even though it's been a year we still think about him every day," she said. She also recalled the impact of the police chief’s visit on the day of the murder, noting, "That meant a lot to us that he would take the time to come out and be on the scene of the crime." The vigil was a somber reminder that while the city’s homicide rate had seen a decrease in the year since Jeffery's death, the pain for his loved ones was still raw.

Years have passed, but the case of Jeffery Boular’s murder remains unsolved. His family continues to hope that someone will come forward with the information needed to bring his killer to justice. The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department still lists the case as open and encourages anyone with knowledge of the shooting on Marlowe Avenue to call 911 or CrimeStoppers at 704-334-1600. The motive for the shooting was never publicly determined, and the person who took a young man’s life has never been held accountable.