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Gastonia, North Carolina – An 18-year-old Black Hispanic man has been charged with first-degree murder following the fatal shooting of a 17-year-old White teen during a vape cartridge sale that turned deadly.
On February 27, around 1:30 A.M., Police discovered a vehicle in the Goble Street neighborhood of Gastonia. Inside, officers found two males—one pistol-whipped and the other fatally shot.
Authorities later identified the deceased as 17-year-old Brandon Paul Sullivan, a White teen who had allegedly arranged to sell vape cartridges—commonly used to consume marijuana or nicotine—to Moises Pena-Gonzalez.
However, instead of completing the sale, Sullivan and his friend were ambushed by a group of three to four masked assailants, who robbed and assaulted them. Police say Pena-Gonzalez was among those involved in the attack.
Though Pena-Gonzalez is not alleged to be the shooter, his suspected role in orchestrating the fatal robbery has led to him being charged in Sullivan’s death.
Pena-Gonzalez is currently being held in Gaston County Jail without bond. Police did not specify what was taken during the robbery but confirmed that another suspect was in custody for a separate robbery. That suspect—an unidentified minor—has not been charged with Sullivan’s murder or the assault of his friend.
Brandon Paul Sullivan, was born in Gaston County in 2007 and would have turned 18 on March 6, according to his obituary. The recent Hunter Huss High School graduate loved his cats, eating at Texas Roadhouse and riding dirt bikes.
Sullivan is survived by two of his grandparents, a sister, his mother and father, and his “soul mate” Lynsey. The family has requested that memorial donations be made to the Animal League of Gaston County.
Gastonia, located 25 miles from Charlotte in South-Central North Carolina, has an estimated population of around 84,000. White residents make up 51.7% of the population, while Black residents account for 30.9% of the population.
According to data compiled by the Gastonia Police Department, Black suspects made up 48% of overall Burglary offenders over the past ten years in Gastonia—excluding the numerous cases where the race is not specified—despite only being roughly one third of the population.
White teens frequently fall victim to robberies and even deadly violence when meeting up to make deals with Black individuals.
In September 2024, a White teen in Nashville was fatally shot—just days before his 17th birthday—in a suspected gun deal gone wrong. The Black suspect charged in the case was involved in another deadly shooting just earlier that year.
According to the same data compiled from the Gastonia Police Department, Black suspects comprised over 71% of homicide offenders during that same ten year period.
Justice Report investigations into interracial homicides frequently trace back to Gastonia, North Carolina.
In 2023, a White family from Gastonia was shot with a hail of bullets by a Black man living next door. Police say that the suspect became enraged and started opening fire after a basketball rolled into his yard during a neighborhood children’s game.
Before opening fire on a 6-year-old White girl and her parents, the father said the Black assailant had said “You white? I don’t even like white people. I’m going to shoot your a–.”
All three victims survived the shooting. However, despite the clear racial racial nature of the allegations, the suspect was not charged with a hate crime.
In 2024, a Black parolee linked to an unsolved homicide in North Carolina was arrested in Gastonia for the fatal shooting of an off-duty White corrections officer in Jacksonville, Florida.
Silent security footage showed 53-year-old victim attempting to intervene when his alleged killer began to physically assault a female at a Florida truck stop.
After being rebuked by the accused, the corrections officer was later shot dead and the suspect fled to Gastonia, triggering an interstate manhunt that led to his capture.
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