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Tow truck driver killed in east Charlotte was father of two – WSOC TV

CHARLOTTE – Charlotte-Mecklenburg police said a suspect accused of killing a tow truck driver has been arrested in Orange County, Texas.

The victim's family told Channel 9's Hunter Sáenz that Khyre Grier was doing his job when he was killed. Grier, 25, was the father of a five-year-old and a newborn.

“He was smart. He loved cars,” said his mother, Tamara Grier.

“And the job he has, well, he had – excuse me. He loved it. He loved his tug job.”

The grieving mother spoke to Sáenz on the phone.

“I really don’t know how to cope,” she said. “I don’t know how I’m going to get through this.”

The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department's team that tracks the city's most violent criminals was trying to find 34-year-old Ramon Alexi Santos Funes, who they believe helped kill him.

CMPD Killer Sgt. Eduardo Quevedo said on Sept. 26 that Grier was found shot to death in the driver's seat of his tow truck at an apartment complex on Eastcrest Drive in east Charlotte.

Grier's mother told Sáenz that his girlfriend had spoken to him on the phone shortly before his death and could hear people talking to him in Spanish.

“The last thing she heard was him saying he was leaving the car. So he already had the car up there,” his mother said.

Then the call was canceled.

According to court documents, the murder was recorded on a dashboard camera in the tow truck.

“It just seems like he was a young man doing his job and he didn't deserve that,” Sgt. Quevedo said.

CMPD said that same day they arrested 49-year-old Fabio Herminio Funes. He was charged with first-degree murder at the end of an interview with investigators.

The next day, investigators asked for help finding his brother, whom they later identified as Ramon Funes.

Ramon Alexi Santos Funes

“We believe there are people out there who know more than they say,” said Sgt. Quevedo said hours before the announcement that Ramon Funes had been arrested.

For this reason, Quevedo urged people to come forward if they knew where Ramon Funes was so that it could bring closure to Grier's family.

“Just do the right thing,” Grier’s mother said. “What is wrong is wrong and what is right is right.”

Sáenz learned that Ramon Funes was from Honduras. He asked police if they feared he may have returned to this country and they said that while that was possible, they wanted him in prison.

There was a $5,000 reward for information leading to an arrest. If you know anything, call Crime Stoppers: 704-334-1600.

(SEE BELOW: CMPD: Man dies, officer recovers after shooting during traffic stop)