The state will not pursue the death penalty in the case against a man accused of shooting and killing a 33-year-old Gastonia woman, a prosecutor said.
Shiquan Eleek Ratchford, 22, is charged with first-degree murder, possession of a firearm by a felon, and assault by pointing a gun in the death of Megan Michelle Tate.
Ratchford is accused of shooting Tate at a home on Spring Valley Drive, near Shannon Bradley Road, on Dec. 2.
In a court hearing on Wednesday, a prosecutor said that she will not seek capital punishment in the case.
If convicted of first-degree murder, Ratchford faces a mandatory sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole.