Inset: Adam Mercado (Mecklenburg County Sheriff's Office). Background: The 1100 block of Central Avenue in Charlotte, North Carolina (Google Maps).
A suspect is accused of stabbing another man off a busy street in Charlotte, North Carolina – before stealing several items from the victim, including his car.
Adam Mercado, 34, has been charged with first-degree murder and robbery with a dangerous weapon, Mecklenburg County court records show. The violent incident occurred on Thursday.
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At approximately 2 p.m. that day, a man wearing a blue shirt and orange gloves arrived at a building on the 1100 block of Central Avenue in Charlotte, driving a brown Hyundai Sonata, according to a criminal affidavit reviewed by Law&Crime.
This man is alleged to have been Mercado.
The suspect sees the victim, 68-year-old Gerald Barnes, talks to him, and then "attempts to show the victim an item in his bookbag," the court document alleges, citing video footage. When Barnes looks into the bag, the violence begins.
"The male stabs him in the neck and then demands that he surrender his car keys," the affidavit reads. "The victim surrenders his car keys and the male stabs him several more times as the victim falls to the ground. The male then goes through the victim's pockets and takes his wallet."
Mercado allegedly proceeded to hop into Barnes' Honda Fit and drive the vehicle over to the Sonata in which he arrived. "The male loads items into the Fit and then drives away," authorities said.
Law enforcement officers arrived at the building where Barnes was stabbed and found him "suffering from multiple stab wounds."
The victim would be pronounced dead later that night. Detectives began investigating — searching for the Honda fit.
Mercado has also been implicated in other deaths, authorities said.
On Friday, officers were called to do a welfare check on a home on the 2600 block of Nelda Drive in Monroe, just 28 miles southeast of Charlotte.
There, Matthew Moody, 52, and James Wallace, 49, were found dead.
Mercado was later charged with those two murders as well, according to a press release issued by the Monroe Police Department.
