Charlotte, North Carolina: Two More Teens Charged With Murder in Shooting That Killed Caleb Flax, 4

Charlotte-Mecklenburg police have charged two more 17-year-olds with murder in the September shooting that killed Caleb Flax, a 4-year-old boy who was asleep in his home on Grassy Patch Lane. Khamari Jeffries turned himself in on Monday, October 26, police said. Rodney Sowell Jr. was arrested the previous week. The two arrests bring the total number of people arrested in the case to eight, and most of the suspects are teenagers, according to police.

Eighty-four rounds into four homes

The shooting happened shortly before 3 a.m. on Sunday, September 20, on the 900 block of Grassy Patch Lane in northwest Charlotte, near Auten Road. Investigators say seven armed people arrived in two stolen vehicles and fired at least 84 rounds into four occupied homes and three parked vehicles in under a minute. Caleb was sleeping beside his mother when a bullet hit him in the head. He was taken to Levine Children's Hospital, where he was pronounced dead. A woman in another home was also shot and suffered serious injuries.

Police have described the attack as retaliation for a shooting on September 19 that targeted a suspect's home. At an October 1 court hearing, prosecutors said one suspect's home was believed to have been the intended target, and that the group instead fired on a home two doors away. Investigators have linked a stolen Mercedes-Benz to the group and say surveillance footage from a 7-Eleven stop and traffic cameras captured the stolen vehicles near the scene.

The earlier arrests

Four teenagers were charged in the first wave of arrests. Ar'montae Johnson, 16, Jaylen Barber, 16, Antonio Ladson, 17, and Ian Garland, 17, face murder and related charges and are being charged as adults. Garland was hit with additional charges on October 5, including six counts of possession of a firearm by a minor, five counts of damage to property, two counts of assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill, two counts of shooting into an occupied dwelling, felony conspiracy and attempted larceny of a motor vehicle. A fifth man, Terrance Jackson, 22, was arrested on September 29 and charged as an accessory after the fact. Police say Jackson helped the suspects dispose of one of the stolen cars. He was given a 2 million dollar secured bond on September 30 and is not accused of being one of the shooters.

Caleb's mother, Bryanna Flax, described her son to Queen City News as a light in any room he walked in.

What police have not said

Police have not provided further details about the circumstances of the shooting or about the specific allegations against Jeffries and Sowell, and they have not said what role either teen is accused of playing on September 20. The charges against all eight people arrested are allegations. Each defendant is presumed innocent unless proven guilty in court, and the investigation remains active.