Weekly Homicide Tracker: 3 men killed in separate incidents in Durham
Four men were killed in separate incidents in the Triangle in the past week, including two men killed in just over the past 24 hours in Durham.
The News & Observer and The Herald-Sun now list the Triangle’s most recent homicides online Mondays in this new, weekly roundup.
An interactive map, a searchable database and links to our stories provide details on each death and the status of the investigation.
We are reassessing how we report homicides and violent crime.
▪ We want to rely less, especially on initial stories, on official sources alone.
▪ We want to emphasize trends and tell more about those killed and those affected by loss and violence in their communities.
▪ We want to create time in our reporters’ schedules to go deeper in search of better stories.
To do this, we may forgo stories on deaths when there is little information and sometimes not even a name.
The new homicide tracker, however, will include all violent deaths. (See below.) With the map, you can hover on a dot and learn the basic details. With the database, you will be able to search on incidents by name.
Know that as you do this, we are working to learn more about each case, about the victim and the ripples their death has in the community.
If you know one of the victims of the homicides listed below and would like to tell their story, please contact reporters Colleen Hammond at chammond@newsobserver.com or Aaron Sánchez-Guerra at asanchezguerra@newsobserver.com
The News & Observer has requested additional information about these cases.
RALEIGH
Date: July 17
Victim: Unidentified adult male
Age: Unknown
Location: Western Boulevard and Varsity Drive
Arrest: None
Story link:
DURHAM
Date: July 20
Victim: Benjamin Francois Morris, of Raleigh.
Age: 43
Location: 1000 block of Raynor Avenue
Arrest: None
Story Link:
Date: July 23
Victim: Brandon Lamar Wiggins of Durham
Age: 28
Location: 1100 block of Holloway Street
Arrest: None
What we know: Police responded to the shooting around 3:30 am.. Wiggins was pronounced dead at a hospital. Anyone with any information is asked to call Investigator M. Judy at 919-560-4440 ext. 29252 or CrimeStoppers at 919-683-1200.
Date: July 24
Victim: Ronnie Christopher Streeter, of Durham.
Age: 67
Location: 800 block of Angier Avenue
Arrest: Clarence Winston III, 65, of Durham, charged with first-degree murder, first-degree attempted murder, and felony assault on a disabled person.
Police Statistics: As of March 31, the Durham Police Department’s homicide clearance rate was 76.9%.
As of June 24, there had been 23 criminal homicides, including 20 fatal shootings, in Durham this year, according to the latest police statistics.
There have been six additional homicides in Durham since police updated their official online statistics June 24.
WAKE COUNTY
There were no new homicides reported in Wake County (outside Raleigh) between July 17 and July 24.
Database editor David Raynor contributed to this report.
This story was originally published July 24, 2023 at 8:16 AM.