19-year-old charged with killing her mother, kidnapping her sibling in Orange County
A young Hillsborough woman has been charged with fatally shooting her mother and kidnapping her 2-year-old sibling Monday night from the Bellevue Mill Apartments on South Nash Street.
Jaydah Westmoreland, 19, is accused of first-degree murder and kidnapping, Hillsborough police reported Tuesday. She is being held in the Orange County Jail without bail following a brief court hearing Tuesday in Orange County District Court.
Hillsborough police reported finding Delila Nicole Westmoreland, 41, dead from multiple gunshot wounds around 7:45 p.m. Monday in the apartment building. They learned while investigating the killing that Delila Westmoreland’s 2-year-old child was missing, the report said.
The child was found safe and returned to family members, police said. Bullets entered a neighboring apartment in Hillsborough, police said, but no one else was injured.
Court hearing
Jaydah Westmoreland stood beside Orange County Public Defender Woodrena Baker-Harrell on Tuesday while her charges were read in court.
District Court Judge Joal Broun advised Westmoreland that she could face the death penalty or life in prison if convicted on the murder charge. The kidnapping charge could bring up to 23 years and 3 months in prison, Broun said.
A capital defender will be appointed to represent Westmoreland in future court hearings. Baker-Harrell indicated a motion could be filed in the future seeking a bail bond reduction.
The hearing was continued to Aug. 28.
911 calls, details about shooting
The N.C. State Bureau of Investigation and the Durham County Sheriff’s Office helped Hillsborough police arrest Jaydah Westmoreland, who was found at a house in Durham.
A male caller identifying himself as Delila Westmoreland’s child called 911 shortly before police arrived Monday and said she was inside the apartment, lying on the floor in her room, according to 911 reports and calls released to The News & Observer.
The caller and at least one other person were outside, he said in the three-minute call, but he did not mention that his mother had been shot. There was no one there who could perform CPR, he told the operator when asked.
The operator then asked if he knew what happened. The male caller responded, “No, we just got here.”
The call was dispatched to police and EMS personnel as a “cardiac arrest,” but Westmoreland was dead when they arrived, according to 911 calls.
An officer who initially investigated the scene reported, “There’s a pack of 22 rounds in a pocketbook here, and it’s missing quite a few (rounds),” according to Hillsborough police radio communications.
Police have not said what weapon was used to kill Westmoreland or if it has been recovered. Officers impounded a 2016 Buick Verano registered to Delila Westmoreland, 911 reports showed. The car’s license plate was expired, it said.
Bellevue Mill murder in 2022
Monday’s murder is not the first at the Bellevue Mill Apartments.
Nicholas Frank, 17, was killed in the parking lot across from the Bellevue Mill Apartments just over a year ago. The building, located at 206 S. Nash St., is near the Hillsborough BBQ restaurant.
Hillsborough police responded to that 911 call about gunshots around 9:30 p.m. June 29, 2022, and found Frank dead. Frank did not live at the apartment complex, police told The News & Observer at the time.
Alexander Capell Johnson, 22, of Hillsborough was charged in September with first-degree murder in Frank’s death, and a second, juvenile suspect also was charged.
Anyone with information about Monday’s shooting can contact Hillsborough Investigator Van St. Pierre at 919-296-9533 or via email.
Anonymous crime tips can be reported to 919-296-9555; the See it, Say it, Send it app or the See it, Say it, Send it website; and by sending the Hillsborough Police Department a message on its Facebook page.
This story was originally published August 15, 2023 at 11:48 AM.
