IREDELL COUNTY, N.C. (WACB) – Authorities say the Hickory man who was charged in connection to a shooting in a vehicle on Interstate 77 in Mooresville earlier this week now faces a murder charge. The suspect is 23-year-old J’Kobe Tre’shon Ramseur. The 19-year-old female victim, Justice Wells, has passed away, resulting in the charge being elevated to murder.

According to our news partner WACB, police say the shooting that led to a crash on the Interstate may have resulted from an obsessive, “tumultuous” relationship between a couple linked to multiple domestic incidents. According to a news release from the Mooresville Police Department, the shooting was reported at approximately 4:30 p.m. Sunday (July 26) on the I-77 Exit 35 ramp.

When officers arrived, they found two people suffering from gunshot wounds. Both victims were rushed to area hospitals for treatment. Investigators determined that all of the shots fired came from inside the vehicle, squashing rumors that the real shooter is on the loose. 

Mooresville police said on Wednesday that Justice Wells died from the injuries she suffered in the shooting. Ramseur was initially charged with attempted murder, but the charges have been upgraded to murder.

The WACB report says Police debunked rumors of a second vehicle being involved. They clarified that there was no red pickup truck involved, despite social media rumors suggesting that the person was connected to the shooting. Mooresville detectives contacted the owner of the truck seen in photos and determined the owner, who lives in South Carolina, wasn’t linked to the incident.

Investigators said the couple had a “tumultuous” relationship with reports of multiple domestic incidents in surrounding counties. The WACB report says the investigation uncovered a series of text messages with a potential murder-suicide pact between the couple. The messages stopped about two hours before the shooting.

Authorities say Ramseur has been connected to crimes in surrounding counties. Detectives have a warrant for his arrest, but it hasn’t been served because he remains hospitalized.

[Story courtesy of Rick Gilbert, WACB]