Man police say known for ‘random acts of violence’ named as person of interest in homicide

A man police say is known to attack random people is facing new charges after being accused of doing it again.

Last year, Brandon Braxton was charged with indecent exposure after police said he was running naked around Fourth Ward Park in Uptown.

Now he’s back in Mecklenburg County jail after an alleged recent rash of crimes.

Channel 9′s Hunter Sáenz spoke with one of his alleged victims, Lindsey Newsome.

Newsome said earlier this month, she was holding a fundraiser for dogs at a south Charlotte restaurant just off Johnston Road when Braxton walked up.

“He started talking to me a little bit saying he had been wanting to adopt a dog,” Newsome said.

That’s when Newsome said he snatched her bag and ran off causing her to run after him.

“I was screaming for help. I said, ‘He’s got my money, he’s got my money. Can you help me?” Newsome described.

This is when a good samaritan caught up to Braxton near a hotel, tackled him, and put him in a chokehold until officers arrived, according to Newsome.

Police later said that good samaritan then was punched by Braxton.

“I was just scared. I was in shock,” Newsome explained.

According to court records, days before that incident, Braxton threw a brick through a man’s window in Ballantyne, punched a man in the face at a gas pump in the same area, and shattered the window of a Harris Teeter on Providence Road with a rock.

Braxton was also arrested last October after being accused of exposing himself to a woman in Fourth Ward Park and charged with assaulting another woman a month later.

In one court document, police noted that Braxton is known for “random acts of violence.”

However, before his arrests in all of the most recent cases, Braxton was also listed as a person of interest in the stabbing death of Whitney Hurd, according to court records.

Hurd was a realtor who police say was found dead in her SouthPark townhome last July.

Newsome told Channel 9 that she was simply stunned by that revelation.

“Honestly, it makes me sick to my stomach to hear that,” Newsome said.

While Braxton remains in jail, he has not been named as a suspect in Hurd’s death.

In a Silver Alert issued for him out of Raleigh in 2022, it was noted that Braxton may have dementia or some other cognitive impairment.

VIDEO: ‘It’s concerning’: Man charged with indecent exposure at Uptown park

‘It’s concerning’: Man charged with indecent exposure at Uptown park

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