Police said a 24-year-old man died at the scene after officers were called to Ruffner Drive just after midnight Wednesday.
CORNELIUS, N.C. — A 23-year-old woman was charged with second-degree murder after a man was found fatally stabbed inside a Cornelius apartment early Wednesday, according to police, who said officers responded to Ruffner Drive just after 12:39 a.m. and found 24-year-old Demetri Niji McGruder mortally wounded.
The arrest quickly turned a late-night emergency call into a homicide case in northern Mecklenburg County. Cornelius police identified Makayla Nicole Hooks as the suspect and said she was taken to the Mecklenburg County Jail after investigators reviewed the scene and interviewed her. Court records and police affidavits described differing accounts of how McGruder was wounded, making the case significant not only because of the killing itself, but because investigators say the evidence inside the apartment did not match Hooks’ explanations.
Police said officers were sent to 18711 Ruffner Drive, Unit 1E, in the Oakhurst area, after a reported stabbing. When they arrived, they found McGruder suffering from a stab wound and pronounced him dead at the scene. The basic timeline was first laid out in a police release Wednesday, which said the call came at 12:39 a.m. Local television footage later showed crime scene tape outside one of the apartment entryways as detectives worked through the morning. Hooks was arrested during the initial investigation. According to an affidavit described in local reporting, Hooks told detectives she and McGruder had been arguing in the kitchen while she was cutting steak. She said she put the knife down, heard a noise in the bathroom and then found McGruder hurt. That account became a central point for detectives as they compared it with other statements and with evidence collected inside the apartment.
Investigators said Hooks’ explanation changed in important ways. According to police affidavits reported by local outlets, body-worn camera footage captured Hooks telling an officer that McGruder had a knife, that she pushed him and that the knife stabbed him. Police said Hooks later denied that version, saying McGruder never had the knife and saying she did not have it either after setting it down. Detectives also wrote that Hooks said she never feared for her safety during the argument. Investigators said she gave “inconsistent statements” about how McGruder suffered the wound and described in detail what happened before and after the injury without clearly explaining how it occurred. The affidavit also said McGruder had bruises and marks on his body, while Hooks had no noticeable injuries. Police reported signs of a struggle, blood in the master bedroom and blood on the knife believed to have been used.
The location added another layer of attention because the apartment complex sits in a neighborhood with apartments, townhomes and nearby single-family homes off Bailey Road and near Statesville Road. Neighbors told local reporters they were shaken by the killing in a community they considered relatively quiet. One resident, Ben Oliver, told WSOC-TV that any loss of life so close to home was tragic. Police have not publicly released a motive, and investigators have not fully detailed the relationship between Hooks and McGruder in their formal release. Still, court documents cited by local media indicate the two lived at the same apartment, and a warrant from an earlier case said they were dating. That history has become part of the public record around the case because it may help explain why detectives began examining prior incidents between the two after Wednesday’s death.
One of those earlier incidents happened less than a month before the killing. Court records cited by WBTV said Hooks was arrested March 17 after another dispute involving McGruder at the same apartment. In that earlier case, an affidavit alleged Hooks admitted she “got heated” and threw glass items at McGruder during an argument. The officer in that case reportedly saw small cuts on McGruder’s thumb, hand and toe. Hooks was charged then with simple assault and misdemeanor domestic violence and was released on a $5,000 bond hours later, according to the records cited in follow-up reporting. The prior case does not by itself establish what happened Wednesday, but it gives prosecutors and the public a clearer timeline of earlier police contact involving the same address and the same two people. It also raises questions about whether more records, including charging documents and future court filings, will add detail about what detectives believe led to the fatal confrontation.
For now, the criminal case is moving through its first stage. Police said Hooks was charged with second-degree murder and booked into the Mecklenburg County Jail. Cornelius Today and other local outlets reported she was being held without bond, though police’s initial release said only that she had been transported to jail. Further court dates had not been broadly publicized in the reporting reviewed Thursday. Investigators also had not announced any additional suspects, and the police release identified Hooks as the person arrested in the case. Officials have not said whether toxicology tests, forensic testing on the knife or additional witness interviews could shape later filings. Those unanswered questions leave the case at an early but important point: a homicide charge has been filed, the main physical evidence has been described in broad terms, and the next public step is likely to come through court proceedings or a further police update.
By Thursday, the apartment killing remained one of the most closely watched local crime stories in the Lake Norman area, with attention focused on the short timeline between the 911 response, the arrest and the discovery of earlier domestic-violence records. The case now stands at the intersection of homicide, domestic conflict and forensic investigation, and the next milestone is expected to be Hooks’ appearance in court or the release of additional charging documents that spell out the state’s theory in greater detail.
Author note: Last updated April 16, 2026.