Marshawn Devon Sanders Guilty of Murdering Eric Glenn
A Shelby man, Marshawn Devon Sanders, 31, was found guilty on December 10, 2024, for the murder of Eric De’Sean Glenn and the attempted murder of a woman and her child in a shooting that occurred in 2020 in Gastonia.
The jury convicted Sanders of first-degree murder, two counts of attempted first-degree murder, two counts of discharging a weapon into an occupied vehicle, and possession of a firearm by a felon. The charges stem from a violent incident on June 9, 2020, at a convenience store on Lowell Bethesda Road.
According to trial evidence, Sanders had been in a toxic relationship with a woman who had ended their relationship months prior to the shooting. During this time, Sanders sent threatening messages and vandalized her family’s property. After starting a relationship with Ashley Abernathy, Sanders drove to Gastonia to follow through on his threats.
The woman was seen driving with Eric Glenn and her 2-year-old son in the car when she stopped at a gas station. While she was pumping gas, Abernathy circled the car in her vehicle as Sanders leaned out and fired a handgun at them. One bullet narrowly missed the toddler, while another hit Glenn in the chest, killing him instantly. A third bullet hit a work van in the parking lot.
In 2023, Abernathy was sentenced to a maximum of 10 years in prison for being an accessory after the fact.
Sanders was sentenced to life in prison, along with additional sentences of 180-228 months for the attempted murder charges and 29-47 months for the weapons charges. Most of the sentences will be served consecutively to his life sentence.