CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Sunday marked one year since 26-year-old Katherine "Ketie" Jones was shot and killed behind a Plaza Midwood business.
Despite their best efforts, investigators with Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police said they have been unable to find her killer.
“Like many others, there are many, many unanswered questions,” said CMPD Deputy Chief Jeff Estes.
Monday, Estes spoke to the media to renew a push for answers, urging anyone with information to come forward.
“For everything that is wrong with society, this is a chance to make something right with society by stepping forward and giving these victim’s families peace and some resolution in what has to be a tragic loss,” said Estes.
Jones was shot and killed last October after a night out with friends. Police said Jones was walking home from a bar on Central Avenue to her home on Hawthorne just after 2:30 a.m. Shortly after is when police received a call for shots fired and found Jones on the corner of The Plaza and Hamorton Place, not far from Harris Teeter.
Sunday, Jones’ mother took to Facebook to express her gratitude for all of the support she’s received, admitting it’s been, “a long, hard year.” She also urged loved ones that Jones, “would want all of you to smile when you thought of her, better yet laugh from the bottom of your heart at a memory you share together. Not how she left this world.”
Friends and family say Jones’ memory will live on through a scholarship they started, which will be awarded annually to a UNCC arts student. The scholarship has so far raised more than $27,000.
Jones is one of 16 unsolved murders from 2016. Police say there are currently 28 unsolved homicides in 2017.
“The same difficulty in this case is the same difficulty that we have in every unsolved case is that someone who knows something hasn’t come forward,” says Estes.
Anyone with information about this incident is asked to call 704-432-TIPS and speak directly to a Homicide Unit Detective. Detective Isenhour is the lead detective assigned to the case. The public can also call Crime Stoppers at 704-334-1600 or visit the Crime Stoppers mobile app website.
A $5,000 reward is being offered to anyone who gives information that leads to an arrest.