HAMLET — Police have charged a man suspected of shooting into an occupied car.
Warrants allege that 21-year-old Zyarian Deshaun Hailey was the trigger man in a Dec. 9 shooting on Buttercup Drive in Hamlet.
Hailey is accused of shooting into a Dodge Charger occupied by at least two people around 7:10 p.m. that evening.
Maj. Hudson Chitwood of the Hamlet Police Department told the RO on Dec. 16 that the victims were still unknown and investigators are not aware of any injuries.
However, Chitwood said two unoccupied vehicles were also struck by gunfire, adding that Hailey fired approximately 10 rounds from an “AK-style” rifle using 7.62mm ammunition. Police also have video from the scene, Chitwood said.
After Hailey was identified as the suspect, investigators obtained a warrant for his arrest on Dec. 13.
Hailey was arrested on Dec. 16 and booked into the Richmond County Jail, charged with: possession of a firearm by a felon; assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill; discharging a weapon into an occupied property; and going armed to the terror of the people.
Records show Hailey is being held on a $250,000 secured bond and is scheduled to appear in court Dec. 19.
Chitwood said additional charges may be pending.
According to records with the N.C. Department of Adult Correction, Hailey was convicted in July of 2023 — in a case from 2020 — of discharging a firearm into an occupied property in Anson County and was given a 24-month suspended sentence.
Court records show an additional charge in that case of assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill was dismissed per a plea agreement.
Hailey was also charged in Anson County with two counts of discharging a firearm into an occupied property in 2021, but both of those charges were dismissed on the same day as his conviction.
Court records also show a charge of misdemeanor crime of domestic violence filed in March was dismissed on Dec. 16.
All defendants facing criminal charges are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
