Franklin murder suspect arrested at Raleigh hotel

Wake County sheriff’s deputies and Raleigh police surrounded a room at a Glenwood Avenue hotel Monday morning and arrested a man wanted in the fatal Sunday shooting of his ex-girlfriend in a Food Lion parking lot in Franklinton, authorities said.

Garry A. Yarborough, 35, who gave police a Zebulon address, was taken into custody after officers persuaded him to come out of the room at the Days Inn at 6619 Glenwood Ave.

Yarborough was charged with murder in the death of Tracy Williams about 5 p.m. Sunday. Williams lived in Franklinton and had told local police and Franklin County sheriff’s deputies that Yarborough had a history of trying to hurt her.

Franklinton Police Chief John Green said Williams had taken a course to qualify for a permit to carry a concealed handgun and had her gun with her Sunday. But the gun jammed after she fired one shot that hit Yarborough in the leg, Green said.

“She took all the right, necessary steps” to protect herself by notifying authorities, getting a court order against Yarborough and arming herself legally, but she was betrayed by a mechanical problem, Green said.

The arrest, Green said, showed how crimes can be solved “when agencies work together.” He praised Wake County Sheriff Donnie Harrison for having investigators work through the night with a Franklinton officer as tips came in.

All the tips that police got put Yarborough in Wake County, Green said.

After his arrest, Yarborough was taken to WakeMed Raleigh hospital for treatment of the wound from Williams’ gunshot. Franklinton officers then took him to appear later Monday before a Franklin County magistrate on a murder charge, Green said.

Authorities also arrested Josiah Oakley, who was with Yarborough, and charged him with being an accessory after the fact of murder, saying he aided Yarborough.

Yarborough had several criminal convictions in Wake and Johnston counties in the 1990s, including drug possession and carrying a concealed weapon.

This story was originally published July 27, 2015 at 10:01 AM with the headline "Franklin murder suspect arrested at Raleigh hotel."