A man with a violent criminal history walked out of a North Carolina jail just after midnight on July 29 and was charged with fatally shooting one man and seriously wounding another less than two hours later.
David Simpson, 29, was released from the Mecklenburg County Jail at 12:20 a.m. after posting a $10,000 bond on a charge of possession of a weapon by a prisoner. Police say the shooting happened around 1:45 a.m. at an east Charlotte apartment complex. A Mecklenburg County judge on Friday ordered that he be held without bond.
Simpson faces charges of first-degree murder, attempted first-degree murder, assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill inflicting serious injury, and possession of a firearm by a felon, according to court records reported by WCNC.
Police said the shooting followed a long-running dispute over a parking space outside the apartment complex. Officers had already been called to the property twice that night after arguments broke out between the victims and residents over where they had parked.
Surveillance video cited in court documents appears to show Simpson outside with his girlfriend when the victims' SUV drove past. Detectives said Simpson went inside, returned carrying what they described as a weighted black bag, and ran toward the victims. About 10 minutes later, two gunshots can be heard on the video. Roughly 30 seconds after that, Simpson is seen jogging back toward his apartment while handling the bag before driving away. Officers recovered two spent 7.62-caliber rifle casings at the scene.
One victim died at the scene. The second made it inside an apartment before collapsing and later underwent surgery.
Court records show Simpson was previously charged with first-degree murder in a 2013 fatal shooting but pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter in 2015, according to Queen City News. He served about five years in prison before being released on parole in 2020. Since then, he was arrested several more times, including on multiple charges of possession of a firearm by a felon. He also had pending charges this year for possession of a firearm by a felon, resisting a public officer, and misdemeanor larceny, WCNC reported.
Charlotte defense attorney Tim Cannady, who is not involved in the case, questioned why Simpson remained free given his record. "If you look at his history, it seems like this gentleman has picked up just about every year up to this point some kind of a violent crime," Cannady told WCNC. "So you kind of have to ask the question: Why wasn't he already in jail?"
Simpson is now held without bond as the case moves through Mecklenburg County courts.
