'Made the ultimate sacrifice': Father trying to protect teenage daughter from her boyfriend hitting her is shot dead, cops say

Background: A section of Bedlington Drive Northwest in Concord, N.C. (Google Maps). Inset: Keshaun Tirrell Degraffenreid (Concord Police Department).

A father in North Carolina was trying to protect his daughter from her boyfriend when the younger man fatally shot the dad and also wounded the girl, authorities say.

Keshaun Tirrell Degraffenreid, 17, is being charged as an adult, the Concord Police Department announced. The defendant faces charges including first-degree murder, assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill inflicting serious injury, misdemeanor domestic violence, and resisting officers.

Police identified the victim in court documents as 47-year-old Lester Jones.

On Monday, shortly after midnight, Degraffenreid was with his 16-year-old girlfriend at a home on Bedlington Drive Northwest in Concord, North Carolina, a city about 25 miles northeast of Charlotte. According to police, the two teens "had an argument that escalated" until it was physical.

Degraffenreid punched his girlfriend in the face, a warrant for the defendant's arrest states.

Jones apparently recognized what was happening and, when he tried to intervene, Degraffenreid allegedly shot him. "The suspect fired multiple rounds during the incident, seriously injuring" the girl, too.

Officers were called to the scene "for a reported assault with injury," and they arrived to find Jones and his daughter "suffering from apparent gunshot wounds." Jones was pronounced dead at the scene, while his daughter was brought to an area hospital. Police did not share an update on her health.

Officers tracked Degraffenreid to a nearby street, "and after a brief foot chase," they arrested him.

Neighbors were shocked that such a violent attack occurred just doors away from them.

"A father made the ultimate sacrifice for his daughter to protect her, and a 17-year-old kid played a stupid game and decided to use violence," area resident Josh Elmore told local CBS affiliate WBTV.

Degraffenreid had his first appearance in court on Wednesday; he is scheduled to return on June 18.