HICKORY, N.C. — Two teens are now being charged as adults in the shooting death of a man in Hickory.
Hickory Police say they found the victim, 22-year-old Mason Pridemore, in his SUV in the back of the parking lot of Tabernacle Christian School.
Now, two 17-year-olds, Antonio Harris Jr. and Andrew Smith, have been indicted on murder charges for Pridemore’s death.
Channel 9′s Dave Faherty learned through search warrants in the case that surveillance video from the school and a nearby pizza restaurant helped police make the arrests.
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According to court documents, video from the school shows two people getting out of Pridemore’s SUV and running off wearing similar clothing from the video at Marco’s Pizza.
Police also say they found a firearm still in a holster in an open compartment in the driver’s side door of the SUV.
The search warrant says a friend of the victim told police Pridemore planned on selling a gun to someone the night he was killed.
Court documents say a school resource officer at Hickory High identified the teenagers after they were spotted on the surveillance video from Marco’s Pizza the night of the shooting.
Pridemore’s stepmother, Cody Leatherman, spoke to Channel 9 about the two teenagers being tried as adults.
“We don’t want to have hatred in our hearts. It’s gonna be a hard process,” she said. “I know they’re kids but you made an adult decision so that’s kind of the consequence.”
The district attorney says one of the factors behind the decision to try the teens as adults was the new law enacted late last year in North Carolina that allows teenagers to be tried as adults for serious offenses.
Pridemore’s brother says he was hard-working and motivated, and he only wanted people to try and be the best they could be.
VIDEO: Man found shot to death inside car at church parking lot, police say
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