A Wilmington man has been ordered to serve between 23 and 30 years in state prison following his conviction by a New Hanover County jury in connection with a violent holiday shooting that endangered a family traveling along a major city roadway in 2021.
Uriah Butcher was formally sentenced after being found guilty on September 8 of multiple felony charges arising from the Thanksgiving Day incident. The district attorney's office announced the verdict, confirming that the multi-year legal process surrounding the broad-daylight roadway ambush had resulted in substantial prison time.
Jurors convicted Butcher on charges of attempted first-degree murder, conspiracy to commit first-degree murder, and assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill inflicting serious injury. He was also convicted on four counts of discharging a firearm into an occupied vehicle in operation.
The convictions stem from an armed pursuit that occurred on November 25, 2021. According to prosecutors, Butcher was riding as a passenger in a vehicle that aggressively chased another car traveling along Market Street in Wilmington, creating an immediate and severe danger for everyone inside the targeted automobile.
The vehicle under pursuit was occupied by Quashawn Pearsall and members of his family. During the pursuit down the busy roadway, Butcher produced a firearm and repeatedly fired at the fleeing car, striking the vehicle multiple times while both automobiles were in motion.
Crime scene investigators who responded to the scene processed the roadway and recovered six spent cartridge casings along Market Street. Law enforcement documentation confirmed that the vehicle occupied by the Pearsall family sustained substantial structural damage from the gunfire.
The circumstances inside the targeted car were particularly harrowing. The district attorney's office noted that the vehicle was being operated by a pregnant woman who was attempting to navigate traffic while under direct gunfire from the trailing car.
In addition to the danger posed to the driver and other occupants, a passenger seated in the rear of the car suffered severe trauma. The victim sustained a gunshot wound to the back and was left with a bullet fragment lodged inside his temple as a result of the attack.
The holiday roadway shooting marked the beginning of a rapid series of violent events. The very next day, on November 26, 2021, Quashawn Pearsall was fatally shot at the Bennett Village Apartments, a residential complex located in southern New Hanover County. Investigators later reviewed surveillance video from the apartment complex that showed Butcher fleeing the scene following Pearsall's death.
The combined investigations resulted in criminal charges being filed against multiple suspects. Prosecutors charged Butcher and Ahmad Tate in connection with Pearsall’s homicide, while Butcher and Ahdon Tate were formally indicted on charges related to the November 25 Thanksgiving Day shooting.
Butcher previously stood trial in 2024 on charges covering both the fatal apartment shooting and the Thanksgiving Day highway attack. During that proceeding, the jury returned guilty verdicts on charges of breaking and entering as well as larceny after breaking and entering.
However, that initial jury reached a not-guilty verdict on the charge of conspiracy to commit first-degree murder with Ahmad Tate. Furthermore, the jurors were completely deadlocked on several core violent charges, including first-degree murder, attempted first-degree murder, conspiracy to commit first-degree murder, assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill inflicting serious injury, and four counts of discharging a weapon into an occupied vehicle.
Because the 2024 jury acquitted Butcher of the conspiracy charge involving Ahmad Tate, the first-degree murder charge against him in Pearsall's death was subsequently dismissed by the court. The unresolved charges relating to the Thanksgiving Day roadway pursuit were left open for a retrial.
The cases against Butcher’s co-defendants have moved forward under separate legal proceedings. On June 23, 2025, Ahmad Tate entered a guilty plea to voluntary manslaughter in connection with the fatal shooting of Pearsall at the apartment complex and received an active prison sentence of 5 to 7 years.
Meanwhile, the legal proceedings against Ahdon Tate remain open. The district attorney's office stated that his criminal charges connected to the Thanksgiving Day vehicle shooting are still pending in Superior Court as the case awaits the scheduling of a new trial date.
With Butcher's recent conviction and the imposition of the 23-to-30-year active prison sentence, local prosecutors have resolved the outstanding attempted murder and assault charges stemming from the holiday ambush that left one victim severely wounded and placed an entire family in extreme peril.
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