Joe Marusak
The Charlotte Observer
NEWTON, N.C. — A former Newton Police Department lieutenant has pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in the fatal shooting of an unarmed motorcyclist, the Catawba County District Attorney’s Office said.
Carlos Uribe, 29, of Conover, entered the plea in Catawba County Superior Court Thursday, prosecutors said.
Camden Childers, 21, was fatally shot after a motorcycle chase on June 26, 2025, according to the District Attorney’s office.
An investigation by the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation determined that Uribe kicked and shot Childers after Childers raised his hands in surrender “and was no longer deemed a threat,” according to a District Attorney’s office news release Friday.
Childers had led officers on two chases in other jurisdictions before Newton police tried to stop him, prosecutors said.
“Childers rode his bike into a cul-de-sac near Walmart in Conover and reached a point where he no longer could get away from officers,” according to the news release.
Uribe used his patrol car to knock Childers and his motorcycle to the ground, prosecutors said.
“Uribe’s body camera footage captures the officer telling the victim to get on the ground, and Childers clearly has his hands up in surrender,” according to the news release.
‘I’m sorry!’ man yelled. ‘I’m so sorry!’
The footage shows Uribe kicking Childers in the stomach before a gunshot is heard and Childers repeatedly saying, “I’m sorry!” and “He shot me!” prosecutors said.
Childers was pronounced dead at Catawba Valley Medical Center. An autopsy showed he died of a gunshot wound to his chest, prosecutors said.
Uribe is scheduled to be sentenced on Sept. 8.
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