Weekend murder not connected to Firewater shooting, death of 7-year-old A’yanna Allen
Published 11:38 am Monday, December 19, 2016
By Shavonne Walker
shavonne.walker@salisburypost.com
SALISBURY — Police officials have confirmed a Saturday morning shooting that resulted in the death of a 37-year-old man is not connected to recent killings of Sharod Mathis at Firewater restaurant and lounge and 7-year-old A’yanna Allen.
Salisbury Police and fire as well as Rowan County EMS were called at 2:12 a.m. to the 700 block of Victory Street.
The victim, Albert Shelton Jr., 37, who officials initially believed had suffered cardiac arrest, had actually been shot. Police say Shelton died at the scene.
Capt. Shelia Lingle said police went to Victory Street on a call about a person who was not breathing. EMS personnel began uncovering the layers of clothing Shelton was wearing and saw he was bleeding from a gunshot wound.
The crime is “not random,” Lingle said.
Police have not released any other specific details.
Mathis, 22, was shot while in the parking lot of Firewater, located at Avalon Drive, early on the morning of Dec. 4. Police have said he was taken to the hospital and later died.
Officials also said an altercation occurred prior to the shooting. Just four hours later, someone fired multiple shots into the Harrel Street home where 7-year-old A’yanna Allen and her paternal grandmother, Shirley Robinson, slept.
Robinson was shot in the leg and is recovering. A’yanna died at the scene. Police have said the incidents at Firewater and Harrel Street are connected, but have not provided specific details.
An arrest made in the Firewater shooting on a woman who lied to police and hid a firearm remains the only arrest in the incidents. Savannah Maria Queen was charged with felony obstruction of justice.
Arrest warrants said on multiple occasions authorities asked Queen about a firearm and she denied knowledge of it. She has since been released from the Rowan County Detention Center.
Anyone with information regarding the shooting of Albert Shelton or any of the above cases is asked to call the Salisbury Police Department at 704-638-5333 or Crime Stoppers at 1-866-639-5245.
