Charlotte man sentenced to life in prison for 2020 murder

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – A man was sentenced to life in prison after a Mecklenburg County jury found him guilty of first-degree murder in a 2020 shooting.

Joshua McClain, 32, was found guilty as charged for the shooting death of 43-year-old LaMar McNeil. He was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

The shooting happened around 8:45 p.m. on March 10, 2020 in an apartment complex off Wit Way in northeast Charlotte. McClain and McNeil arranged to meet there for a drug transaction.

McClain got in the backseat of the McNeil’s vehicle when McClain’s co-defendant, Darian Huffman, opened the driver’s side door and tried to steal McNeil’s backpack, the DA said.

Shortly after, Huffman fired one shot into McNeil’s chest. McClain took the backpack and fled on foot. 

McNeil fled on foot to a nearby apartment where residents called 911. He was transported to a hospital where he later died. 

During an investigation, police executed a search warrant at McClain’s home and found the backpack in a wooded area nearby and a 9mm handgun in his car. 

DNA analysis found that the firearm had both McClain’s and Huffman’s DNA on it, the DA said. The weapon also matched the bullet recovered from the victim.

Huffman was previously convicted on charges related to the incident.