Marcus Kauffman, the western Rowan County man shot during a Dec. 2 burglary at his home, has died.
Two men implicated in his death have been charged with murder.
Kauffman had been in intensive care at Carolinas Medical Center since the shooting. His family decided to remove him from life support after getting the results of a test determine if there was any brain activity, according to a Facebook post.
Kauffman, 25, was shot in the back of the head after he interrupted a break-in at his Chenault Road home near Cleveland.
The family has been keeping the community updated on his condition on the Facebook page “Praying for Marco.” Around 11 this morning, they posted this:
“Yesterday God came and flooded us with peace. Even hope.
“This morning the test results came back. We are choosing to bless God and let go of our dear Marco, for it seems God is calling him to Himself. Words fail, but through our pain and tears, we bless God. We worship Him.
“While we certainly would not have written the story this way, we know God is the Master Author, and He makes no mistakes. And in light of eternity, we know this parting will be only a moment in time. Soon we will all be gathered around the throne of God, together forever more, worshipping our perfect and holy Lord. With Marco.
“We need your prayers now more than ever. For God’s supporting hand to carry us through this valley of the shadow of death. For wisdom and grace. For continued forgiveness and peace. For the ability to rest in God’s perfection.”
Kauffman, who went by the nickname Marco, was expecting his first child with wife Maryann. He was a volunteer firefighter with the Scotch Irish Fire Department in Woodleaf.
Marcus and Maryann returned home on the morning of Dec. 2 and found a blue car near their house with the hood up.
Kauffman took his wife to a neighbor’s home before returning and asking the men at the car if they needed help. He soon realized, however, they had broken into his home. He called 911 and was driving away when one of the men shot him in the back of the head.
His car was found at the back of a nearby corn field, where he’d struck a tree.
Four men have been arrested. Khari Dewayne McClelland, 23, of Harmony, had been charged with attempted murder, breaking and entering a building, larceny of a firearm and felony larceny. He is in the Rowan County jail under $5 million bond.
Jaylend Daquann Turner, 19, of Statesville, had been charged with attempted murder, larceny of a firearm, breaking and entering a building and felony larceny. He’s jailed under $3 million bond.
Capt. John Sifford of the Rowan County Sheriff’s Office said when investigators learned Kauffman had died today, they obtained warrants charging McClelland and Turner with first-degree murder.
Tramel Devon Hart, 18, and Michael Dwayne Teasley, 25, are each charged with accessory after the fact and remain jailed under bonds of $500,000 apiece.