Christopher Bernard Carson, 32, was killed in Shelby, North Carolina, on June 12, 2020. An Army veteran born December 14, 1987, he suffered a leg injury during three years of service and was remembered by family as friendly and trusting.

Carson hosted a gathering at his Rocky Brook Drive home the night of June 11 into the early hours of June 12. Most guests had left by about 11 a.m. when neighbors reported hearing gunshots and saw 24-year-old Jalen Aric Lipscomb fleeing while trying to conceal a gun. Carson was found inside his home with four gunshot wounds; one bullet entered his back and struck his heart.

Lipscomb was arrested and charged with first-degree murder. During the July 2021 trial he pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and received a minimum 20-year sentence. Family members and the prosecutor noted Carson’s military service and the senseless impact of the violence.