Murder Victim’s Mother Seeks Answers As New Detective Takes Over Daughter’s Case

CHARLOTTE, NC — There’s a new push to solve the murder of a high school senior in east Charlotte. CMPD says the first detective assigned to the case failed the victim, then 18-year-old Shania Hammonds.

Now there’s a new detective searching for answers, and Hammond’s mother is hopeful there will be an arrest.

“She wasn’t ready to die. So if there’s anybody out there who knows what happened to my daughter, please say something. Please say something.” That was the plea Thursday from Shania’s mother, Frenetta Hammonds.

Shania Hammonds died in February of 2017. Her body was discovered behind her best friend’s home on Willow Gate Lane in east Charlotte.

There were no obvious signs of what killed the 18-year-old Mallard Creek High School senior, so the medical examiner ruled the cause of death undetermined.

Saying Frenetta Hammonds was frustrated by the investigation is putting it mildly.

“To me, he wasn’t doing his job. He wasn’t a good detective,” says Hammonds. “I was on the phone every day. And I was never getting a response from this guy. It got to the point where I was about to start coming down here and knocking on some doors.”

It didn’t get to that.

Lt. Susan Manassah, who leads CMPD’s Violent Crime Unit, started asking the detective questions about the case this past February… A year after Shania’s death.

“I knew immediately when I asked Detective Berman about the case that the answers I was getting were not appropriate.”

That detective, Corey Berman, was removed from the case.

“That particular detective — did he fail her? Yes. Did CMPD? No,” says Lt. Susan Manassah. “She had a lot to live for. She had a lot she wanted to do.”

Hammonds says her daughter was fun and outgoing, had her life planned out, and wanted to go into the military. She’s hopeful the new detective on the case will make an arrest.

Hammonds says, “I feel like the person or persons who I feel like harmed my daughter — it’s gonna come out.”

There is a $10,000 reward for any information that can help CMPD solve Shania’s case. Anyone with information is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 704-334-1600 or 704-432-TIPS.