16-year-old Durham high school student shot to death, as Bull City homicides climb

A 16-year-old high school student was among the two people killed in weekend shootings in Durham.

Miguel Cruz-Ramos, whose death was first reported by WRAL, was a 10th-grade student at Southern High School of Energy and Sustainability.

“Our thoughts are with the family of Miguel Cruz-Ramos, who was a great student of good standing,” Principal Jerome Leathers said in a statement Tuesday. “Our school family will truly miss him.”

Grief counselors were available to students and staff.

Cruz-Ramos died in a late Friday shooting that left two others injured. WRAL reported the other person shot was his brother, who remains hospitalized.

Durham police said the shooting occurred around 11:15 p.m. and that two people were found shot in a vehicle on Drew Street, The News & Observer previously reported.

A third person was later found and taken to the hospital.

Just over 24 hours later, a shooting on Lednum Street left a 24-year-old man dead. Police identified him as 24-year-old Kaleak LaShawn Sanford of Durham.

The two fatal weekend shootings were among four killings reported in the city in eight days.

A GoFundMe page for Cruz-Ramos’ family had raised more than $4,500 as of Tuesday morning.

Shootings down, homicides up

There have been fewer shootings in Durham this year, after a possible record number of people were shot in 2020, police data shows.

But more people are dying.

Of the 318 people who were shot last year, 32 died, The N&O reported. There were 37 total homicides in Durham last year, which includes additional killings that did not involve guns.

In 2019, the city saw 38 total homicides.

But with more than six weeks left this year, 2021 has already surpassed both prior years.

There have been more than 40 homicides in Durham so far, with at least 39 fatal shootings.

Despite multiple requests for information from The N&O over the past week, Durham police have not said whether this is a new high for fatal shootings and overall homicides in the city.

The increase in deaths comes as overall shootings are down, with 236 people injured or killed as of Nov. 6, compared to 271 people by the same time last year.

The N&O has asked to speak with Durham Police Chief Patrice Andrews several times about the city’s shootings and related issues such as police staffing shortages. She has not yet agreed to an interview.

Residents seek cease-fire

At Monday night’s City Council meeting, Mayor Steve Schewel called it “a terrible week for gun violence in Durham again.”

“While we know this is a national phenomenon driven by the pandemic, that is cold comfort,” Schewel said. “Every bullet rips a hole in a family, a neighborhood, and in our entire community and we cannot rest until this gun violence has ended.”

The city has invested in different strategies, including spending over $900,000 this fiscal year to expand gun violence interruption work from two to six census tracts. Teams from the Bull City United program go into Durham neighborhoods to try to prevent shootings and retaliation.

Hours after Cruz-Ramos was fatally shot, about 100 people gathered Saturday in Hillside Park to call for a community cease-fire.

District Court Judge Patricia Evans said she’d had enough and had taken matters into her own hands.

A former prosecutor who has done criminal law work since 1984, Evans said she had called former gang member Dennis Garrett.

“I have never seen the amount of gun violence reach a level such as this, and I knew I had to reach out to someone that had some authority in the streets,” she said.

Garrett, a Durham native who served time in prison, said he was once “a part of the problem” before returning to his community. These days, he is one of a group of local men independently fighting gun violence in Durham.

“They [community leaders] called me up and said we needed to do something. I hit up my brothers and we called a cease fire,” Garrett said. “We can’t do what they do behind the desk working the 9-to-5 and they can’t do what we do in the streets.”

Past and present city leaders at the gathering included former Police Chief Steve Chalmers, Durham County Sheriff Clarence Birkhead, City Council member DeDreana Freeman and Council member-elect Leonardo Williams.

Ciara Sowell, a mother of four who works with Garrett and others, said the violence is connected to economic instability.

“The gangs actually get along here for the most part,” she said. “The issue is poverty.”

She and Garrett said the city’s resources are not reaching those in need.

“They’re spending millions of dollars on programming, and the violence is worse than before,” Garrett said. “Now, who in the hell can’t see that it’s not working?”

Sowell said she grew worried when her oldest son tried to get involved with local gangs.

“This work is personal for me,” she said. “His father was shot and killed when I was pregnant with him.”

On Sunday, the day after the community gathering, Durham police reported the city’s latest homicide.

Officers responding to a call on Lednum Street, north of Interstate 85, shortly after 1:30 a.m., found 24-year-old Kaleak LaShawn Sanford lying outside suffering from a gunshot wound.

He died at the hospital.

Database editor David Raynor contributed to this report.

This story was originally published November 16, 2021 at 11:27 AM.