Many parents would take justice into their own hands to defend their kids if necessary. A dad in North Carolina is proving how true that is. Shaheem Snype, who lives in Charlotte, was arrested after he allegedly attacked a man at the courthouse. The man had been arrested, accused of killing of Snype’s 16-year-old son, Jamariyee Dixon, in 2025. A motive for the attack on the teen has not been shared, but how would most of us feel after seeing the person accused of killing our child? Although many of us might not have acted on the impulse we felt, it’s not impossible to believe some might.
Forty-seven-year-old Snype was arrested on February 19, 2026, by the Mecklenburg County Sheriff’s Office, according to records obtained by People. He was given a misdemeanor charge of assault inflicting serious injury.
The man beat 21-year-old Marion McKnight bloody, repeatedly striking McKnight’s head and upper body, Queen City News reported. McKnight was in court to have his bond revoked after the 2025 killing. He has been out on bond since November 2025.
The beating was captured on video. McKnight was taken to the hospital with injuries. After his arrest, Snype was released on a $1,000 bond, per Queen City News.
On May 23, 2025, officers from the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department were called to investigate an assault with a deadly weapon, they announced in a news release. When they arrived, they found three people with gunshot wounds, including Snype’s son, Dixon. All were taken to area hospitals, and two had life-threatening injuries.
Dixon was declared dead on May 27, 2025, police noted in a follow-up news release on May 28. His death was ruled a homicide, leading to McKnight’s arrest and murder charge.
“He did what he had to do as a father,” Dixon’s aunt Susan Sherrill told Queen City News. “Any father would’ve did the same thing. We’re still grieving. This is a wound that will never ever close because my nephew was 16 years old, and he should still be here with us.”
McKnight’s attorney, Mike Kabakoff, released a statement after the attack, calling it “the most violent assault I’ve seen in a courthouse in my 22 years as a lawyer. Any parent can sympathize with the intense grief of losing a child, but the violence we saw in Court on Thursday was unacceptable,” Queen City News reported.
Lynnette Dixon, the teen’s mother, wasn’t present when the assault on McKnight happened, but she did get to see the video.
“My face smiled,” she said, according to Queen City News. “I smiled. That was the first time I had a real smile since my son been gone.”
A GoFundMe account has been started by Dixon to help cover costs associated with Snype’s arrest.
“Overwhelmed by emotion and the weight of everything we have endured, he reacted in a way that has now left us facing unexpected legal challenges,” she wrote on the page.
