Young woman dies after drive-by shooting on Guess Road in Durham, police say
Durham police investigators are asking for the public’s help in a recent drive-by shooting that has become a homicide case.
Ja’tavia Lashaunda Daye, 21, of Durham, died from her injuries in the May 28 shooting on Guess Road, the Durham Police Department announced Monday.
Officers responded to gunshots around 10:21 p.m. in the 2000 block of Guess Road, where someone had driven by a business and started shooting at the parking lot, according to a news release. Officers found multiple shell casings on the ground.
A short time later, Daye was taken by a private vehicle to the hospital, where she died.
The suspect’s vehicle looks like a gray or dark colored 2015-2018 Chrysler 300, police said in the release.
If you recognize it or have any information, police ask you to call Investigator D. Johnson at 919-560-4440 ext. 29541 or CrimeStoppers at 919-683-1200. CrimeStoppers pays cash rewards, and callers never have to identify themselves.
As of May 25, the latest statistics available, police had investigated 19 homicides in Durham this year, about the same number as the prior two years, according to the department’s crime statistics.
More people shot in Durham this year
Shootings, which had fallen below last year’s level, now exceed the number recorded by May 25 in each of the two prior years.
- There were 97 people shot, including 17 of them fatally, in the city this year.
- That’s compared to 78 people shot (18 fatal) by the same time in 2023 and 95 people shot (16 fatal) by the same time in 2022.
So far this year, police have recovered about 1,500 shell casings from crime scenes, Police Chief Patrice Andrews told the Durham City Council in May.
This story was originally published June 3, 2024 at 4:24 PM.