Man charged with murder in Durham on Thursday left prison last month, records show
Durham police have charged a 22-year-old man with murder in the shooting death of Benjamin Keith Smith near Holloway Street, officers said Friday.
Police charged Taki D. Farley of Durham after a brief chase, spokeswoman Kammie Michael said in a press release.
Officers flagged down Thursday morning found Smith, 51, wounded in a parking lot near Holloway and Raynor streets. He later died in the hospital.
Smith and Farley had been seen arguing on Holloway Street before a shot was fired, police said. They later found Farley, a convicted felon who had a handgun.
Along with murder, he was charged with possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, larceny and possession of a stolen motor vehicle connected to an unrelated car theft on Chautauqua Street earlier Thursday. He is being held at the Durham County jail with no bail.
Farley was convicted of robbery with a dangerous weapon in 2015 and receiving a stolen vehicle in 2019, both felonies, according to the N.C. Department of Corrections website. He was most recently released from prison last month and was scheduled to remain on parole, or post-release supervision, until September of this year, it states.
Anyone with information about the shooting is asked to call investigators at 919-560-4440, ext. 29284 or CrimeStoppers at 919-683-1200.
This story was originally published February 21, 2020 at 11:56 AM.