Newly released search warrants give clues in fatal Raleigh shooting
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Search warrants tie an argument to the June 15 shooting of Timothy Crandell.
- Crandell died four days later and Vincent Wesley, 22, is charged with his killing.
- Wesley allegedly accused Crandell of stealing something from him before the shooting.
The fatal June shooting of a Raleigh man came after an argument with the accused shooter, according to newly released search warrants.
Timothy Terrell Crandell, 54, was shot about 2:30 a.m. June 15 at his Star Street home, The News & Observer previously reported.
He died at the hospital four days later, elevating the charge against the man accused of shooting him, 22-year-old Vincent Dasani Wesley, to murder.
The shooting reportedly stemmed from a disagreement between Crandell and Wesley, which escalated the evening of June 14, when Wesley told one of Crandell’s family members he thought Crandell had stolen from him, according to search warrants.
“Witnesses at the crime scene reported seeing the same subject holding a rifle style firearm several minutes before the shooting occurred,” one warrant states.
Surveillance footage captured a man shooting toward Crandell, then running from the scene toward the intersection of North Raleigh Boulevard and New Bern Avenue, according to the warrants.
Witnesses told detectives Crandell had been in an argument with a man they identified as “Dasani” hours before the shooting, and that “Dasani” was riding around the area on a bicycle. The bicyclist was also captured on cameras at a nearby gas station around the time of the reported disagreement, the search warrants state. Investigators identified the bicyclist as Wesley, and a witness picked Wesley out of a photo line-up.
The footage also captured the shooter peering into the window of Crandell’s home moments before the killing, then firing in Crandell’s direction as Crandell stood in the driveway with a group of friends, according to the warrants and Crandell’s autopsy report.
Officers would later seize a 9 mm rifle and a glass bottle of ammunition from Wesley’s mother’s home, where he was believed to be staying, three days after the shooting, according to court documents. Crandell died from a gunshot wound from a 9 mm firearm to the neck and upper back, which seriously damaged his spine and spinal cord, his autopsy report shows. He was placed on comfort care and a ventilator until his organs could be donated.
As a convicted felon, Wesley was not allowed to possess firearms, court records show. He also faces a charge of possession of a firearm by a felon in this case.
Court records show Wesley has been convicted of possession of a firearm by a felon at least three times in North Carolina:
- On Aug. 30, 2022, in an Oct. 23, 2020, incident in Raleigh
- On Aug. 30, 2022, in a Jan. 29, 2020, incident in Raleigh
- On May 25, 2023, in a Dec. 16, 2022, incident in Raleigh
Wesley had just completed one year and five months of parole in February for his most recent possession of a firearm by a felon conviction, state records show.
Crandell, a native of Rocky Mount, “touched the lives of many with his kindness and quiet strength,” his obituary states.
“He was known for his warm spirit, and unwavering love for his family,” his obituary says. “He was always cheerful and quite the comedian.”
Crandell is survived by eight siblings, 14 nephews, eight nieces and a host of extended relatives, according to his obituary.
Wesley remained without bail in the Wake County Detention Center as of Thursday afternoon.
