Three Brothers Now Charged In Livingstone Student's Death

BY JOHN PATTERSON
SALISBURY POST

CHARLOTTE - Police have charged two brothers with the Dec. 27 shooting death of Shavarez Thompson, bringing to three the number of brothers now accused of murder in the Livingstone College football player's death.

Keith Londell Caldwell, 22, and Antonio Lamont Caldwell, 24, are being held in the Mecklenburg County Detention Center, where their brother, 17-year-old Jamie, has been since the first week of January. The younger Caldwell was charged shortly after Thompson, 19, was killed at the Wilora Lake Lodge, an upscale retirement center where he worked.

Thompson, an all-CIAA defensive player at Livingstone, was approached by the Caldwell brothers around 11 a.m. on Dec. 27. According to Johnny Jennings, an investigator with the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department, the Caldwell brothers apparently went to confront Thompson about a ''dispute'' between Thompson and Antonio Caldwell's girlfriend, who also worked at the Wilora Lake Lodge.

The four men scuffled and eventually the fatal shot was fired.

''They were fist-fighting at first,'' Jennings said. ''Then things just got worse as the fight went along. That's when a gun came into play.''

Jennings said a gun ''wasn't initially involved in the altercation.'' Witnesses and statements indicate that Jamie Caldwell was the one who got the gun - a shotgun - and pull the trigger.

Thompson, who was shot in the abdomen, was rushed to Presbyterian Hospital, where he died about four hours later.

Antonio and Keith Caldwell, who were charged late Wednesday, are being held without bond. Jamie Caldwell's bond was reduced to $100,000 after an earlier hearing, but he remains in jail, according to Jennings.