Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police says a 15-year-old admitted to killing his father, 43-year-old Christian Hans Liewald, and stepmom, 24-year-old Cassie Meghan Liewald.

Police found the couple in their South Mecklenburg County home in the early Monday morning hours, dead from apparent gunshot wounds.

"We heard the mother say, 'please don't do this'," said neighbor Jesse Losemore. He and his wife were in bed when several gun shots were heard in their neighborhood. The Losemores live across from the Liewald residence.

"After that, the ambulance showed up, and the cops showed up, and it turned out that the boy shot his father and then his stepmother," said Losemore.

CMPD charged Liewald's 15-year-old son with murder, as well as armed robbery and attempted auto theft. Because the suspect is a minor, FOX Charlotte will not identify him until he is charged as an adult.

Police say the teen called 911 twice. He first stated that he needed their help but refused to say why. Then, the murder suspect called 911 again. According to the police public affairs office, he stated that he had shot his dad and stepmom. The juvenile suspect told police they could find him sitting on a nearby street corner waiting for them to arrive.

"You don't see the boy out here that often, he keeps to himself too," said neighbor Losemore.
"Usually, those kids are isolated," said family therapist Kristen McClure. "They've asked for help, have not gotten the help, and feel like this is the only way out."

McClure, who did not treat the Liewald family, specializes in child and adolescent therapy. She says that for a child to kill his parents as the only option, things have to be pretty bad in the home.

Neighbors and family friends who knew the home situation faced by the teen acknowledged that the shooting may not have been completely his fault. They describe the family as troubled. One family friend said the couple was going to marriage counseling at their church.
Another couple living close by to the crime scene described the young teen as polite, and sweet, even extremely protective and caring towards his stepmom.

But others describe Christian Liewald as being overly controlling of his son. One neighbor who spent a lot of social time with the Liewald family said the father never let the boy go out and was severely abusive. Several neighbors say Liewald displayed violent behavior in public with a fire arm several years ago, right in front of his son.

"There's also the shame when there's something like this going on in the home," said Karen Thompson, who works at United Family Services of Charlotte.

"They may not want to let other people know, or they may have been told not to let other people know."

It appears that Liewald had security cameras mounted around his home. During their investigation, Crime Scene Investigators could be seen checking them out, as well as taking out computer equipment from the home as evidence.

Thompson says her office is seeing a rise in domestic violence, due to hard economic times.
"Know that we are there to help and there are some resources, they just need to ask for help, they need to call a hotline, and they need to talk to someone."