Charlotte man sentenced to seven years in prison after shooting

CHARLOTTE, NC – Convicted felon Josiah Phifer, 30, of Charlotte has been sentenced to seven years in prison beginning in 2022 following an investigation into a shooting.

Phifer was convicted of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon in North Carolina and served a prison sentence.

As a result of the conviction, Phifer is prohibited from possessing firearms. Court documents show that Phifer illegally possessed a firearm between February 7, 2022, and March 5, 2022.

On March 5, 2022, CMPD officers responded to a 911 call about a shooting at an apartment complex in Charlotte. When officers arrived on the scene, they found that at least 79 shots had been fired from multiple weapons and an innocent resident of the complex had been struck and killed by a ricochet bullet.

Witnesses led police to a specific apartment within the complex believed to be connected to the shooting. Police executed a search warrant for that apartment. Phifer was found inside, along with a quantity of fentanyl pills and several firearms, including an SKS rifle and a loaded Glock pistol with an under-the-counter laser hidden in a toilet tank, as well as ammunition.

Phifer's cell phone was also seized and analyzed. Police recovered photos on the cell phone of Phifer with the same SKS rifle found in the apartment, as well as a video showing the same Glock pistol that was also seized in the apartment.

On June 23, 2023, Phifer pleaded guilty to possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. He is in federal custody and will be transferred to the custody of the Federal Bureau of Prisons upon assignment to a federal facility.

In January 2024, Marcus Alexander Allen, another person connected to the March 5 shooting and the apartment where Phifer was found, was sentenced to seven years in prison for possession of a firearm by a convicted felon who committed the crime on March 5, 2022.