County worker fatally shot at wife's home
- Police Real estate appraiser, 29, fought with his
wife's boyfriend after forcing way in
A possible love triangle turned deadly early Sunday
when a 29-year-old man died after he was shot in his
wife's home.
Charlotte-Mecklenburg police said John Leroy Bullard,
a Mecklenburg County employee and bail bondsman, had
forced his way into his estranged wife's Charlotte
home about 3:20 a.m., according to police.
He and his wife's boyfriend then fought at the Newfield
Street house, police said.
Bullard was shot with a handgun, according to the
police report. The wife, Christina Renee Watson, called
911 at 3:41 a.m.
Bullard later died in surgery at Carolinas Medical
Center.
Police have not charged the 27-year-old boyfriend
who they said was the suspected shooter. They plan
to present the case to the Mecklenburg County District
Attorney's Office to determine if he should be prosecuted.
The Observer is not naming the boyfriend because
he has not been charged in the case. He could not
be reached for comment Sunday.
Watson did not return a call for comment. She and
Bullard married in May 2004, county records show.
In July 2006, records show, they filed a separation
agreement.
Although they were separated, Bullard's family said
Sunday, they were not actually estranged. Family spokesman
Erwin Scales said the couple had spent the day together
Saturday celebrating the S.C. State University football
team's win over N.C. A&T University.
County records list Watson as the sole owner of the
home where the shooting occurred. But Scales said
Bullard had keys to the house. No one answered the
door at the house Sunday afternoon.
The home sits near the edge of the McIntyre development,
a new subdivision off Reames Road. Empty lots lie
just beyond the house. In the other direction, rows
of neutral-colored homes line the curling roadways.
Neighbors in three homes around Watson's house said
they hadn't heard the nighttime commotion. None of
them knew anyone involved. Most people have lived
in that section of the development for just a few
months, neighbors said. Many don't know each other
yet.
On Sunday afternoon, a man who identified himself
as Bullard's father came to the house to retrieve
a silver Infiniti sedan parked in front of the home.
He declined to say much. But he said his son was
not a violent man. He also said his son's life would
speak for itself.
After graduating from S.C. State University, John
Bullard started working for Mecklenburg County as
a real-estate appraiser, said Erwin Scales, a cousin
by marriage. Bullard was also running his own bail
bond business.
In his free time, he was active at First Baptist
Church-West. He cared for his mother, who is sick.
He also kept an eye on his younger cousins, checking
on their progress at school.
He was a family-oriented and industrious young man,
Scales said.
"John did not deserve this," said Saundra
Scales, Bullard's second cousin.
The family didn't know much about what had gone wrong
in the dark hours of Sunday. They also say they don't
understand it.
"Everything we have heard is 180 degrees out
of character for this man," Erwin Scales said.
A.E. Grier & Sons Funeral Service is handling
arrangements.
