A North Carolina father has been charged with second-degree murder after he allegedly fatally shot a man who he believed struck and killed his son in a car accident.
Chad Woods, 41, was driving with his family on Monday morning when their car ran out of gas, The News & Observer reported. Three family members, including Woods’ 17-year-old son, began walking along the road. A driver was reportedly “unable to avoid” hitting the 17-year-old son. Paramedics later pronounced the teen dead at the scene.
“He was a good person. He was a real good person,” the boy’s brother told ABC11. “Wanted to be an IT technician. He was doing, he wanted to be positive in life. He wanted to help people. He was a people person.”
The Person County Sheriff’s Office and the N.C. State Highway Patrol said the driver was reporting the crash to a 911 operator when what sounded like two gunshots were heard. The line then went quiet. Sheriff Jason Wilborn told the outlet that Woods, the teen’s father, had grabbed a handgun and shot the driver, killing him.
Woods then reportedly tossed the gun into a pond, stole the man’s Ram pickup truck, and drove himself home, leaving behind the driver and his dead son. The driver has been identified as 39-year-old Jeffrey Leonard McKay of Youngsville, North Carolina, who worked as a maintenance worker for North Carolina’s Department of Correction.
“This is kind of a first,” Morris told ABC11. “I’ve been to people struck by cars and I’ve been to shootings, but I haven’t ever had this happen at the same time. Sad situation all around, for all the families.”
Woods’ father, Lawrence Clayborn, told ABC11 that his son was distraught over seeing his own son die.
“He was just out of it, going off and stuff. He was going, ‘He just he killed my son. He killed my son,'” Clayborn said.
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Woods was tracked down at his home after authorities identified the minor. Morris told media outlets that police were looking for an additional person at the scene who could be heard in the background of McKay’s 911 call.
Woods faces a second-degree murder charge and a larceny of a motor vehicle charge for allegedly stealing McKay’s truck, NBC News reported. If convicted, he faces a maximum punishment of life in prison without the possibility of parole.