Raleigh man pleads guilty in fatal 2022 shooting at Durham apartment complex
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- Raleigh man pleads guilty to 2022 murder, assault in Durham apartment case
- Plea deal drops attempted murder, weapon charges in exchange for confession
- Defendant sentenced to up to nearly 27 years; second suspect awaits trial
Three years after a Durham man was killed and another man seriously injured in a shooting at an apartment complex, one of the two accused killers pleaded guilty to murder Monday.
Jayon Farad Smith-Sherman, 22, of Raleigh also pleaded guilty to a charge of assault with a deadly weapon inflicting serious injury, court records show.
In exchange for his plea, charges of attempted first-degree murder, assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill or inflict serious injury and discharging a weapon into occupied property were dismissed.
Smith-Sherman was one of two men charged in the April 15, 2022, killing of Raheem Clark, 21, at the Cadence at RTP apartments in East Durham, The News & Observer previously reported.
Smith-Sherman and Mujahid Muhammad, then 23, were arrested three months later.
Smith-Sherman was on probation for drug-related crimes at the time of his arrest.
It’s not clear what role Smith-Sherman played in Clark’s death, though search warrants identified him as a drug dealer and close friend who came to the apartment complex with Clark that day, as The N&O reported last month. Clark was allegedly trying to rob the surviving victim at gunpoint when he was killed, according to search warrants and court documents.
Smith-Sherman reportedly confessed to one of Clark’s family members that he was present at the scene and tried to check on his friend, but left when he discovered Clark was dead, according to search warrants. Investigators theorized Smith-Sherman, Clark and Muhammad hoped to steal the surviving victim’s Dodge Charger that day.
Smith-Sherman was sentenced to a minimum of 20 years and seven months and a maximum of 26 years and 10 months in prison, court records show. Upon his release, he will be on supervised probation for three years.
Muhammad does not have a trial date yet, according to court records.
