Joseph Lee Bellamy, a man remembered by his family as a loving and devoted brother, was born in Newark, New Jersey, on June 17, 1979, to his mother, Lorene Bellamy. Growing up in Newark, he graduated from high school before moving south, where he attended Barber-Scotia College in North Carolina. At 38 years old, Joseph, an African-American man, was experiencing homelessness in Charlotte. A friend who knew him from the streets remembered him for his "real big smile" and would later recall seeing his face in her mind after his death. He is survived by his mother, his sister Tina Bellamy, and his brother Jonathan Bellamy.
The end of Joseph’s life came violently and without warning on Saturday, September 2, 2017. In the morning, a woman living in the same homeless community near Uptown Charlotte, Angelique Landry, heard the sound of gunshots but didn't investigate.
A few hours later, around 1:11 p.m., she was walking through a vacant lot in the 900 block of North College Street, a field near the Urban Ministry Center, when she made a devastating discovery. "I saw the baseball hat here and then I saw his arm and his body was laying there," she explained. It was her friend, Joseph. After trying to communicate with him and getting no response, she alerted others, and 911 was called.
Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department officers and paramedics arrived on the scene, where Joseph was officially pronounced dead. Initially, authorities reported he had suffered from "unknown trauma." Detectives began canvassing the area for potential witnesses. It wasn't until the following Tuesday, after the Mecklenburg County Medical Examiner's Office completed its review, that the case was officially classified as a homicide. Law enforcement sources confirmed that the medical examiner found that Joseph had been killed by a bullet wound. His death marked the 63rd homicide in the city of Charlotte that year.
The investigation into who killed Joseph Bellamy continued for months without a breakthrough. The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department urged the public to come forward with any information that might help them solve the case. Then, in late November 2017, nearly three months after the murder, detectives released surveillance photographs to the media, asking for the public’s help in identifying a person of interest.
The images showed a man wearing a red T-shirt and black shorts. Police stated that this individual was a passenger in a silver or light-colored Chrysler Pacifica SUV that was also pictured in the surveillance footage. Authorities believed this person had information relevant to the investigation into Joseph's death but did not label him a suspect. No further details were released about how this individual or the vehicle were connected to the crime scene on North College Street.
A memorial service for Joseph was held on September 15, 2017, at Leavitt Funeral Home in Wadesboro, where family and friends gathered to remember him. Despite the public appeal and the release of the photographs of the person of interest, no arrests have ever been announced in connection with the murder. As of the last public updates in November 2017, the case remains unsolved. The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department continues to ask that anyone with information regarding the shooting of Joseph Bellamy call 704-432-TIPS or Crime Stoppers at 704-334-1600.
