Police announced on Monday afternoon that they had apprehended the man who was suspected of killing his 19-year-old girlfriend and then shooting her mother’s fiancé this past weekend in Gastonia.
The incident occurred on Saturday when a residence on Dix Street prompted a call to the Gastonia Police Department. Before David V. McDowell III shot and killed his girlfriend, the police claimed there had been a “domestic disturbance.”
Monday marked the victim’s 19-year-old identification. Her name is Zanayah White.
Toya White, White’s mother, said to Ken Lemon on Channel 9 on Monday that their recent issues with McDowell included his being possessive of White.
Toya informed Lemon that McDowell had shot White in front of her 14-year-old sister after he attempted to seize a phone from her.
“He took my baby, he took my baby,” Toya stated.
Toya claimed that her daughter had severed her relationship with McDowell. She claimed that after that, McDowell composed a rap song with menacing lyrics and uploaded it to YouTube along with a photo of the two of them.
Around the same time as the shooting on Dix Street, there was another gunshot in the area, and White’s mother verified that her own fiancé was the victim in that incident.
White’s mother claims that while she and her fiancé, Keith Tate, were running errands, Tate mentioned he left his phone at the house on Dix Street.
White’s mother claimed that Tate was shot in the face by the suspect when Tate arrived at the house and discovered White dead.
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Tate left the house, got into a car, and drove off before colliding with Adams Avenue, according to White’s mother.
“He left his phone and he went to go get it, and he never came back,” Toya stated to Lemon.
Tate was taken to the hospital by paramedics who discovered him on Adams Avenue. Tate is on the mend as of Monday, White’s mother informed Lemon.
According to authorities, McDowell was apprehended at approximately 3:30 p.m. with the assistance of Kings Mountain police. There is a first-degree murder charge against him.
Toya was worried that McDowell would return for her while he was on the run.
“He said he had a bullet for everybody that stayed in my house,” Toya stated.
