DURHAM – The courts are closed Monday in observance of Martin Luther King, Jr.’s birthday, so the Durham County District Attorney asked Judge Michael O’Foghludha to keep the investigative documents in the murder case of UNC student Faith Hedgepeth sealed an additional 60 days.
The previous order expires Monday. Assistant District Attorney Charlene Franks told WCHL that Judge O’Foghludha signed the order on Friday.
Hedgepeth was found murdered in her off-campus apartment on September 7, 2012.
On January 8, Chapel Hill Police released details of the investigation including DNA of a male suspect found at the scene. Little information has been released other than that.
The Chapel Hill Police Department continues to express that this is not a cold case and that it is continuing to follow leads.
Police continue seeking any information that could help in the investigation. Call the Chapel Hill Police Department at 919-614-6363 or Crime Stoppers at 919-942-7515.
A reward up to $39,000 is still available to someone submitting information that assists in the case.
http://chapelboro.com/news/crime/hedgepeth-investigative-documents-sealed-additional-60-days/ORANGE COUNTY – Orange County District Attorney Jim Woodall says his office won’t pursue the death penalty in a double homicide from 2012.
Facing charges are 20-year-old Curtis Kantawiti White, Jr. of Allie Mae Road in Cedar Grove and 24-year-old Ladelle Alverez Faucette of Apsley Drive in McLeansville.
Woodall says the families of the victims were consulted about level of punishment.
“We try to involve families as much as we can in almost any case where we have a victim,” Woodall says. “But I think in homicide cases there’s a lot more involvement, because it’s such a serious matter, and their losses are so great.”
Woodall says he believes that is something most district attorney’s offices do.
“The family doesn’t make the final decision, but it’s a very big factor in what we ultimately do,” Woodall says.
According to the Chapel Hill News, White and Faucette are charged with two counts of first-degree murder and two counts of robbery with a dangerous weapon. They allegedly killed 52-year-old Phillip Johnson and 68-year-old Alexander “Skip” Wade in an attempted robbery at the Week in Treasures thrift store on Mill Creek Road in Cedar Grove.
Woodall says the trials could start this summer. If convicted, the men are facing life in prison.
http://chapelboro.com/news/crime/death-penalty-table-2012-double-homicide/CHAPEL HILL – Chapel Hill Police confirms that the condo where an alleged murder took place Wednesday night is the sight of numerous complaints.
Michelle Denise McClinton is charged with 1st degree murder in the stabbing death of her husband, Darryn Maurice Dye.
The incident took place in the condo of Dye’s sister, Angela Gilmore, which is unit G3 in the Brookside Condominiums on Hillsborough Street. Eric Plow, a member of the board of directors at the Brookside Homeowners Association, says there have been multiple complaints about fights, yelling and drunken behavior at G3.
“No one was surprised that a murder occurred in this unit because, for the past couple of years, we’ve had numerous, numerous neighbor complaints and police calls at this apartment,” Plow says.
Chapel Hill police patrol captain Danny Lloyd says police were called to the apartment in question three times this year, with Wednesday’s incident being the fourth.
Mary Jean Seyda, chief operations officer for CASA, says CASA was aware of the complaints from other Brookside residents and was in communication with the Brookside HOA and the apartment’s tenants. Seyda also says that the lease for G3 was near expiration.
“Our most recent action was on June 20 when we notified the HOA that CASA is not renewing the tenant’s lease, effective August 31,” Seyda says.
Gilmore say that McClinton and Dye stepped outside to have a conversation, and when they came back inside, McClinton retrieved a knife and “poked” Dye in the chest and “he just fell out on the floor.”
Police responded to a reported assault and arrived shortly after 10:00 p.m. Dye was pronounced dead at the scene.
http://chapelboro.com/news/crime/apartment-in-stabbing-murder-case-sight-of-complaints/HILLSBOROUGH – The man charged with first degree murder and the possession of and discharging of a firearm on educational property appears in court again Tuesday.
Ali Cherfaoui allegedly shot his estranged wife, Chahnaz Kebaier, multiple times outside Mary Scroggs Elementary School on May 25 just before school let out. Kebaier was shot multiple times in the head and body and died at UNC Hospitals two hours after the shooting.
Cherfaoui could face the death penalty or life in prison. He’s also being held under a domestic protective order, which means he is not permitted to have contact with his children or with the victim’s family.
http://chapelboro.com/news/crime/ali-cherfaoui-to-appear-in-court-tuesday/ 41.7°F |
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