SALISBURY — The suspect in the murder of a 21-year-old Kannapolis man found dead in his car Wednesday morning turned himself in to Salisbury police detectives Thursday.
Quamaine Deshawn Patterson, 18, is charged with first-degree murder in the death of Rigoberto Angeles-Resendiz. He is being held in the Rowan County Detention Center without bond and is scheduled to make a first appearance in court today.
Authorities did not indicate a possible motive.
Elementary school students and a bus driver found the victim around 6:30 a.m. Wednesday in his still-running Volkswagen Jetta on Foster Lane, off Morlan Park Road. He’d been shot in the head.
Monica Duren, a nearby neighbor, said about 15 elementary school-aged kids play on the street every morning before the bus arrives and came to her house saying they found a body in the car.
Other neighbors reported hearing dogs barking early Wednesday, and one heard a horn blowing repeatedly around 5:30 a.m.
Salisbury Police said the school bus driver was trying to make a turn and could not because a car was blocking the road. When he approached the car, he saw the man dead in the driver’s seat.
Police went door-to-door Wednesday morning talking to neighbors and used police dogs to search the area. Investigators identified Patterson as a suspect early Thursday. He walked into the Salisbury Police Department around midday.
Salisbury Police Chief Rory Collins credited the “outstanding teamwork and investigative skills” of the detectives working the case for the fast identification and arrest of Patterson.
“We are also very grateful to those from within our community who called in tips in this case, which helped to lead us in the right directions,” Collins said in a statement. “This is a very good example of the benefit of a partnership between a law enforcement agency and its community.”
According to the N.C. Department of Correction, Patterson is on probation for convictions of drug possession and carrying a concealed weapon. Those convictions occurred between March and June of this year.