Fingerprint on CD case leads to arrest in 25-year-old unsolved murder, CMPD says
An arrest has been made in the 2001 killing of a man who resisted being robbed, and it was a fingerprint on a CD case that helped lead to a suspect, according to a Charlotte-Mecklenburg police affidavit.
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Alan Marquis Phifer, 43, is accused of fatally shooting Cesar Gudino Gonzalez, 21, during a robbery on March 24, 2001, court documents say. Two other men suffered non-life threatening gunshot wounds during the incident, officials say.
An arrest was made Monday by CMPD’s Violent Criminal Apprehension Team, after “detectives received a lab report implicating Mr. Phifer’s involvement,” Charlotte-Mecklenburg police said in a news release.
The shootings happened around 3:15 a.m. after two men entered an apartment on North Sharon Amity Road “and robbed the occupants,” an affidavit says.
“One of the victims (Cesar Gudino-Gonzalez) was found to have a gunshot wound to the head and was pronounced deceased on scene,” the affidavit says. “(He) was shot while trying to fight off one of the … male suspects. The suspect was able to break free, shoot the victim once in the leg and then shot him in the head, once the victim fell to the ground.”
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A witness in a nearby apartment reported seeing two males flee the home, get into a van and speed away, officials said. That van had been stolen the day before, and it was found abandoned on West Boulevard about 11 hours after shooting, police said.
The CMPD Crime Lab Fingerprint Section identified four prints linked to the crime scene and van, and two were identified as belonging to Phifer, court documents say. One was found near the entrance of the apartment, and the other came “from a CD case inside of the stolen/recovered van,” the affidavit says.
Phifer has been charged with murder and robbery with a dangerous weapon, CMPD said.
Investigators did not release details of the second suspect mentioned in the affidavit.
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