Durham County

Durham police charge 2 with killing 21-year-old man

Two young men have been arrested in an April shooting that left one person dead and another injured, Durham police said Friday.

Mujahid Muhammad, 23, and Jayon Smith-Sherman, 19, are accused of killing 21-year-old Raheem Sharaf Clark Jr. on East Cornwallis Road.

They are charged with murder, attempted first-degree murder and assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill or inflicting serious injury, according to a Police Department news release.

State records show Smith-Sherman was on probation at the time of the killing, after being convicted of two misdemeanor drug crimes in February.

On April 15, officers responded to a reported shooting in the 1400 block of East Cornwallis Road. They found Clark dead at the scene. A second person shot was taken to the hospital with life-threatening injuries, police said,

Police said the shooting occurred about 11:40 a.m. at the Cadence at RTP apartment complex, The News & Observer previously reported.

The apartment complex saw another shooting in February that left two men dead and two other men injured.

As of July 16, police had investigated 23 criminal homicides in Durham this year, according to the Police Department’s website There were 25 criminal homicides by the same time last year.

All told, 131 people had been shot by July 16 in the city, according to police statistics, including 22 who were fatally shot.

This story was originally published August 5, 2022 at 3:47 PM.

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