It’s been 3 years since a Durham man was killed. The path to trial has been bumpy
It’s been three years since Raheem Clark was fatally shot at a Durham apartment complex, but neither of his accused killers has stood trial, with one case plagued by attorney spats, including a call for sanctions against the Durham County District Attorney’s Office.
Clark, 21, was killed April 15, 2022, at the Cadence at RTP apartments on East Cornwallis Road, The News & Observer previously reported. Another man was seriously injured.
Over three months later, Mujahid Muhammad, then 23, and Jayon Smith-Sherman, then 19, were charged with murder and other crimes, The N&O reported. Smith-Sherman was on probation for drug crimes at the time.
Smith-Sherman is tentatively set for trial in November, court records show.
But Muhammad has yet to receive an official trial date, nor has he been arraigned — the point in the judicial process when a defendant enters an initial plea of guilty or not guilty.
Here’s what we know about the case and Muhammad’s pending trial.
Suspected motive revealed
The scene at Cadence at RTP, now known as The Churchill, was brutal.
Clark lay dead, sprawled partly in the parking lot and partly on the sidewalk, according to search warrants.
Shell casings were scattered across the pavement. Car parts had fallen off an Infiniti sedan whose driver ran over the surviving victim before departing, the warrants allege.
Surveillance footage showed what had occurred.
The surviving victim, whom The N&O is choosing not to name to protect his privacy, had been driving a Dodge Charger while the Infiniti parked nearby, search warrants state.
The survivor got out of the Charger and got a 9 mm handgun out of the right passenger side, according to search warrants. Forensic analysis showed the handgun was not fired during the incident.
“Three people, including Clark, exited the Infiniti with what appeared to be firearms and approached [the survivor] while he was standing by the driver’s side door of the Dodge Charger,” a search warrant states. “Clark was the first to approach [the survivor], and appeared to be holding a rifle on camera.”
The driver of the Infiniti approached next, apparently holding a pistol, according to the warrant. Another passenger from the Infiniti also walked over, armed with a rifle.
Then, gunshots rang out, striking both Clark and the surviving victim, the warrant states. The survivor ducked into the Charger, then out of it, while the driver and unidentified passenger of the Infiniti continued to fire as they ran to their car.
The surviving victim began to crawl through the parking lot, when the Infiniti, which had begun to pull away, returned and accelerated, running over the man and dragging him about 10 feet.
A passenger got out and ran over to Clark and took something off his body, according to the warrant. After the passenger returned to the Infiniti, the sedan sped off. Witnesses reported seeing a bullet-riddled Infiniti speeding down Fayetteville Street toward I-40, search warrants say.
“Follow-up investigation revealed that members of Clark’s family were told that Clark was engaged in a robbery, was in possession of a rifle, and that rifle was taken off of Clark after he was shot,” one search warrant states.
Search warrants show investigators quickly determined the shooting was likely gang-related. The Infiniti, which had been stolen in Cary two days earlier, was found abandoned in Hillsborough.
Role of social media in arrests
Social media activity played a large part in Muhammad and Smith-Sherman’s arrests. Smith-Sherman was identified as a close friend of Clark’s who allegedly sold drugs on Instagram and was in the Infiniti with him that day, according to the warrants.
Muhammad, meanwhile, was a member of a gang allied with the gang Clark was in, search warrants allege. Instagram messages showed him communicating with Clark about the potential sale of an AK-47 by one of Muhammad’s friends, according to the warrants.
Investigators believe Clark, Smith-Sherman and Muhammad were trying to steal the surviving victim’s Charger when the shooting occurred, court documents show. Smith-Sherman allegedly confessed to one of Clark’s family members that he was there when Clark was killed and tried to check on him, but left after realizing he was dead, according to a search warrant.
Muhammad expressed regret in the days after Clark’s death, posting Instagram stories stating he’d thrown up multiple times and couldn’t eat and messaging acquaintances that he was “so [expletive] up” by the shooting, according to search warrants.
Clark’s autopsy report revealed he was killed by a gunshot wound to the head but had also sustained an injury to his left forearm that indicated “firing of a gun with a muzzle very close to [his] arm.”
The keys to the Infiniti were found inside an envelope Muhammad tried to hide in a gutter drain just before his arrest by Raleigh police and Wake County Sheriff’s Office deputies Aug. 4, 2022, according to a search warrant.
Call for sanctions
Muhammad has remained in jail since his arrest as issues plague his court case.
Last year, he asked that all evidence from his Instagram, Verizon account and cellphone be suppressed, court documents show. He argued that investigators had pressured him into providing his phone password after he’d already asked for a lawyer.
Another version of that request was filed earlier this month after Durham police obtained a new search warrant for Muhammad’s cellphone without using his password. This time, Muhammad’s attorney shared this exchange from his interrogation after being arrested:
Investigator Garcia: You can — do you wanna get like [the phone number of] your mom, get five numbers you wanna get like five numbers on there? We’re not in a rush.
Muhammad: Probably like 10?
Garcia: 10 numbers? What’s the passcode to get in? You don’t know off the top of your head?
Muhammad: I’ll put it in.
Garcia: Just tell me what it is and we’ll get it going. I got stuff to do.
Muhammad: I can’t put it in?
Garcia: You’re gonna put it in front of me, I’m gonna see what it is anyway, so, what is it?
Muhammad: I’m saying that’s why I can’t put it in.
Garcia: What is it? Let’s get this going, c’mon.
Muhammad then provided his passcode, according to the motion.
On May 7, one of Muhammad’s attorneys, Allyn Sharp, also filed a motion for sanctions against the state, alleging that Assistant District Attorney William Massengale had repeatedly violated discovery rules and improperly delayed her client’s case.
According to Sharp’s motion, Massengale allegedly:
- Delayed providing files important to Muhammad’s case, like the recording of his interrogation after his arrest
- Repeatedly produced the same files but presented them as new discovery
- Falsely claimed that requested files didn’t exist or couldn’t be shared without a court order
- Shared files modified by his office and provided by third parties
- Repeatedly shared files that Sharp could not open or view
“The manner in which the State has produced and withheld discovery in this case together with communications from the prosecutor make clear that the State’s delay of discovery in this case is a tactic intended to deprive Mr. Muhammad of his counsel of choice, to coerce a plea disposition, and to prejudice both litigation of suppression motions and defense at trial,” Sharp wrote.
Sharp requested the state pay her attorney’s fees for the extra work she’d had to complete due to the delays and complications. She also asked that the state be found responsible for the delay.
In a recording of a May 12 hearing obtained by The N&O, Massengale accused Sharp of lying and said she had requested documents unrelated to Muhammad’s case.
“She doesn’t communicate with our office,” Massengale said in the hearing. “She had one in-person meeting with our office in February ... She told [a colleague] that she would refuse to communicate with me as the lead prosecutor and stormed out of the room.”
Sharp denied Massengale’s allegations to the judge.
“She is obstructing this case,” Massengale said.
Judge Cy Grant ordered the pair to compromise, and when court resumed, Sharp and Massengale said they’d agreed on all but two items: the Raleigh Police Department and Wake County Sheriff’s Office files related to Muhammad’s arrest.
Grant denied Sharp’s request for those items but issued a May 19 order compelling the state to produce five other items she’d asked for, court documents show.
The case is set for a status hearing July 9 to see where things stand. Sharp and Massengale did not respond to requests for comment, while District Attorney Satana Deberry told The N&O via email, “The judge denied [Sharp’s] motions and found no violations.”
This story was originally published June 2, 2025 at 5:30 AM.
CORRECTION: This article has been updated to reflect that Judge Grant did not rule on Sharp’s motion for sanctions.
