‘We’re empty without her’: Family of NC woman killed at ATM says

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CHARLOTTE (QUEEN CITY NEWS) — The sons of a woman shot and killed at an ATM say “our family has lost the matriarch.”

CMPD is calling the murder of 48-year-old Karen Baker “a completely random act.”

Baker’s sons say their mom was their best friend, and they’re desperate for answers into who killed her.

The victim’s sons say the killer did not just take away one life but many because of the impact their mom had on the community.

“She was everything you could put into one person, all of the qualities and characteristics that one person could possess, my mom possessed them,” said Will McClure, Baker’s son.

Baker was the grandmother and mother her family could always depend on.

“My mom was a one-of-a-kind woman, wasn’t nobody she wouldn’t help, there wasn’t nobody she didn’t love,” said Michael McClure, Baker’s son.

Baker’s sons say she was the matriarch of the family, but her love extended beyond her own loved ones.

“My mom would move mountains for a stranger,” said Will McClure.

Family says Karen would do anything for a stranger in need. Police say it was a stranger who took her life.

Karen was shot and killed before dawn Wednesday morning around 5:45 a.m. at a stand-alone Bank of America ATM on University City Boulevard in the parking lot of the University Plaza shopping center.

“It’s heinous and it’s disgusting, and it pains me to have to stand up here and talk to people about that,” said Major Brian Foley with CMPD.

CMPD says Baker was killed at random.

“We’re empty without her. I feel empty,” said Will McClure.

A grieving family is left without answers.