A west Charlotte neighbor feud ended in a decades-long prison sentence after a 2024 shooting on Scottview Drive left one man dead and another headed to state prison. Prosecutors say 50-year-old Dean Tate pleaded guilty in May 2026 to second-degree murder in the killing of his neighbor, 53-year-old Robert Long, and received a sentence reported as 360 to 444 months behind bars.
According to Charlotte Alerts News, Tate entered the second-degree murder plea in May 2026 and was hit with the 360 to 444 month prison term. The outlet identified the victim as Robert Long, 53, and said the shooting happened on Scottview Drive in west Charlotte.
How the investigation began
The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department said officers were called around 6:30 p.m. on March 21, 2024, to the 8000 block of Scottview Drive, where they found a man with multiple gunshot wounds who later died from his injuries. That victim was identified as Robert Long, 53, according to the department.
In that same release, detectives named Dean Antonio Tate as the suspect and listed initial charges of first-degree murder, first-degree kidnapping and discharging a firearm into an occupied vehicle. What started as a neighborhood homicide call quickly turned into a full-scale investigation involving multiple crime scenes and a suspect who would not be in custody for long.
Arrest after a chase
Local television coverage detailed what happened next. In the pre-dawn hours the following morning, officers spotted the suspect vehicle and a chase followed. It ended in dramatic fashion when the driver pulled into the Law Enforcement Center parking lot in Uptown and surrendered to police. Radio traffic and video from the scene showed officers taking the driver into custody and later recovering a firearm believed to be tied to the shooting, as reported by WCCB…