Sheriff’s investigators charged two men and a teenager with first-degree murder and other offenses on Friday in the killing of a 16-year-old outside his Lincoln County home.
One suspect, a 35-year-old man, remained at large Saturday, and authorities asked the public for help to find him.
Edwin Jaziel Morales Hernandez was found dead Dec. 15 along rural Whitehouse Drive, investigators said. That’s off U.S. 321 just north of Lincolnton and 40 miles northwest of uptown Charlotte.
Chief Deputy Matt Lykins said a worker from the area found the boy’s body around 7 p.m., about 200 yards from old mills at the end of the road, The Charlotte Observer previously reported.
Assailants took the teen from outside his home, robbed and shot him and left him on the side of the little-traveled road, according to a Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office news release late Friday.
Three face felony charges in teen’s killing
Investigators didn’t say if the shooters knew the teen. The sheriff’s office credited tips that led to the discovery of evidence that investigators aren’t detailing.