A convicted felon with six arrests throughout 2024 has been sentenced to 24 months supervised probation after firing multiple gunshots at a vehicle carrying his girlfriend and four others following a staged infidelity prank that catastrophically backfired.
Shyhied Ivey, 20, faces five counts of assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill alongside charges for discharging a firearm into an occupied moving vehicle, domestic violence and illegal firearm possession by a convicted felon following the 5 April Charlotte incident.
The shooting erupted after Ivey’s girlfriend of five months, Nevaeh Covington, orchestrated an ill-conceived joke involving friend Damion Rann calling Ivey whilst “pretending to be cheating” with her—a prank that transformed into a terrifying highway pursuit ending in gunfire.
Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department officers responded to Columbus Circle just after midnight following assault with deadly weapon reports, with subsequent investigations revealing DOT camera footage capturing Ivey’s black Nissan Sedan pulling alongside Gernala Covington’s red Nissan Altima at Freedom Drive and Wesley Village Road intersection before “three bright bursts” emanated from his vehicle.
The bullets shattered Gernala’s rear right window though remarkably no injuries were reported amongst the five occupants—Nevaeh Covington, Gernala Covington, Quimya James, Damion Rann and Nadiya Cousart-Thompson—who had been returning from Camp North End shopping mall after dining together.
Covington told investigators Ivey tracked their location through Find My iPhone after Rann relayed the fabricated infidelity message, with the enraged boyfriend subsequently tailing their vehicle whilst driving “recklessly attempting to get them to pull over” and firing his handgun into the air multiple times.
A text message Ivey sent Rann around 1.32am stating “Stop playing wimme bro” provided additional evidence supporting the prosecution’s case alongside a shell casing discovered at the shooting scene that “appeared fresh and had no road marks,” according to affidavit documentation.
Ivey’s extensive criminal history includes six 2024 arrests for offences spanning breaking and entering motor vehicles and felony conspiracy, with authorities releasing him following each detention before the shooting incident.
He additionally pleaded guilty to motor vehicle larceny for a 6 December 2023 Mecklenburg County crime whilst facing 24 March probation violation charges before his subsequent release preceded the shooting.
The 9 April sentencing hearing resulted in supervised probation rather than incarceration despite the severity of charges, with Ivey scheduled appearing in court 23 April for additional proceedings.
