Ten years after a gunman opened fire into a car in Charlotte’s Hidden Valley neighborhood and left a 16-year-old girl fighting for her life, her killer has never been convicted, and her mother says she will not stop demanding answers. Ta’Nya Lashay Williams survived nearly eight months after being shot in the head and neck before she died of her injuries, and no one has ever been held accountable for pulling the trigger.
The shooting happened on December 20, 2015, at around 2:30 p.m. in the 1600 block of Vancouver Drive, where a gunman fired into a vehicle carrying Williams, two other 16-year-old girls, and a 26-year-old man, according to WCNC. Williams was left confined to a wheelchair after the shooting and eventually died from her injuries at Carolinas Medical Center on August 10, 2016. Her mother, Tashala Campbell, told WSOC-TV that her daughter wanted justice before she died, calling her “my precious girl.”
In March 2018, a break appeared to come when 20-year-old Arshaun Springs turned himself in to the Mecklenburg County Sheriff’s Office and was charged with murder after Charlotte-Mecklenburg police obtained warrants tied to the case. But prosecutors later dropped the charges, citing insufficient evidence, and the man walked free. The case then reverted to open status, eventually landing with CMPD’s Cold Case Unit.
A Family That Keeps Showing Up
Williams’s family has visited her grave in a north Charlotte cemetery every week for 10 years, the station’s report notes. This week was no different, with relatives gathering at the gravesite as the anniversary of the shooting’s aftermath weighed on them. Campbell has continued to speak at the grave, telling her daughter, “Mommy’s here; always and forever.”…