ASHEVILLE, N.C. (828newsNOW) — A 33-year-old man from South Carolina has been identified as the person who died following a shooting Thursday on Tunnel Road in Asheville.
Friday evening, the Asheville Police Department identified the victim as Oji Trevon Mitchell, 33, of Columbia, S.C.
The shooting happened about 3:13 p.m. on Thursday, April 18, in the 160 block of Tunnel Road. The victim, now identified as Mitchell, had a gunshot wound to the ches and was taken by ambulance to Mission Hospital where he died, police said.
A “person of interest” was taken into custody Thursday afternoon, though not initially identified by police.
Authorities later confirmed that Kenneth Maurice West, Jr., of Rock Hill, S.C., had been charged with first degree murder and robbery with a dangerous weapon. He was booked into Buncombe County Detention Facility on Thursday, according to police and online records from the Buncombe County Sheriff’s Department.
It was the third homicide in Asheville this year, Asheville Police Department spokesman Rick Rice said.
The case remains under investigation. Police asked for people with information about the case to send an anonymous tip by texting TIP2APD to 847411 or using the TIP2APD smartphone app. People also can contact APD at (828) 252-1110.