Police said the case remains active after a medical examiner ruled the 19-year-old’s death a homicide.
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — A 24-year-old Charlotte man has been charged with murder and rape after police said a 19-year-old woman was found dead May 1 inside an east Charlotte apartment, where court records allege she had been bound and injured.
Charlotte-Mecklenburg police identified the woman as Isabella Mary Alexandria Stroupe and the suspect as Thomaz Kenon Hamilton. The case moved from a death investigation to a homicide case after investigators consulted with the Mecklenburg County Medical Examiner’s Office. Police said Hamilton was arrested May 5 and transferred to the Mecklenburg County Sheriff’s Office after an interview with homicide detectives.
Officers, Charlotte Fire and MEDIC crews were sent early May 1 to the 6600 block of Yateswood Drive in the Hickory Grove Division after a report of an unresponsive woman. Court records cited by local news outlets said Hamilton first met officers at a QT gas station off Albemarle Road and told them Stroupe, whom he described as his girlfriend, had stopped breathing. Officials said responders found Stroupe at the apartment complex near Albemarle Road, and MEDIC pronounced her dead at about 3:40 a.m. Hamilton told detectives he believed Stroupe had suffered a heart attack during sex, according to the affidavit. Police later said the manner of death had been ruled homicide.
The affidavit said Stroupe was found in a bedroom with minimal clothing and was bound to a bed with a tow strap. Investigators reported multiple injuries, including broken and fractured bones and stab wounds. Detectives also listed several items found in the apartment, including a knife wrapped in cellophane with possible blood on it, a baseball bat, a sword, multiple cellphones, some of them broken, clothing with possible blood and a mattress that appeared to have blood on it. The affidavit said Stroupe had been tortured over several months and would have been physically unable to provide consent for sexual intercourse. Police have not publicly released a full autopsy report, and the exact cause of death has not been announced.
The death has shaken Stroupe’s family in Gaston County, where relatives described her as creative, funny and deeply interested in books and fantasy stories. Her mother, Emilie Stroupe, said the news felt unreal. “I lost it, I just screamed and screamed,” she said. Her brother Jacob remembered her as someone who was “always talking about something related to fantasy, or the book she was reading.” Relatives said they knew Hamilton and did not expect the case to end in a killing. Stroupe’s sister, Marleigh Bailey, said the family had trusted him and thought Isabella was OK.
Police said members of the homicide unit and Crime Scene Search responded after Stroupe was found. Days later, detectives obtained warrants charging Hamilton with first-degree murder and first-degree rape. The department said its Violent Criminal Apprehension Team located and arrested Hamilton without incident May 5. The Charlotte Observer reported Hamilton was being held without bond at the Mecklenburg County Jail. It was not immediately clear from the reviewed reports whether Hamilton had entered a plea or whether an attorney had been assigned or retained to speak for him.
The case is centered in east Charlotte, near Yateswood Drive and Albemarle Road, an area of apartments, businesses and busy traffic corridors. Police classified the investigation in the Hickory Grove Division and assigned Detective Fitch as the lead detective. The department said Stroupe’s next of kin had been notified of her death and Hamilton’s arrest. Family members said they are now focused on funeral plans and on following the criminal case. “I think Bella’s story is going to do a lot of good,” Emilie Stroupe said. “That’s what justice is right, you put the attackers where they can’t hurt anybody else.”
The investigation remains active, police said. Hamilton was in custody after being charged with first-degree murder and first-degree rape, and additional information is expected to come through police updates, court filings or future hearings in Mecklenburg County.
Author note: Last updated May 10, 2026.