CMPD arrested three men Friday on suspicion of murder after a 27-year-old woman was shot and killed as she drove her car into the crossfire of a shootout just north of uptown Charlotte.
Police said Kendal Ryan Crank died at the scene. She was not an intended target, authorities said.
Police said Crank had two children.
“She was just going about her daily life, so that makes this even more tragic,” Lt. Bryan Crum was quoted as saying in The Charlotte Observer.
Her family told WBTV News that Crank graduated from Independence High School and was a wonderful mom to her 3-year-old son Kyrie and her 9-year-old daughter Lamaya.
“Kendal always trusted me with them, and I want her to know her kids will be fine. You bet I have got them,” her older brother told WBTV.
The shooting happened Thursday during the evening rush hour near the busy intersection of 28th and North Tryon streets.
Witnesses told police they say several males near the intersection who were shooting at each other. A short time later, a man walked into Carolinas Medical Center-Main with a non-life threatening gunshot wound to his arm. Police later confirmed that the gunshot victim was Tychicus Dobie, 22, one of the three suspects.
Jail records show that Dobie had been arrested at least three times previously in Mecklenburg County. In 2015 he was charged with robbery with a dangerous weapon.
Police also arrested Adonis Smith, 17, and Marquis Smith, 24.
All three men were held in Mecklenbug jail and were scheduled to have their first court appearance on April 1.
