How a CashApp transaction and a bail bond scam led to a Durham man’s murder
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Durham police have charged two men with a 2023 murder linked to a CashApp fraud dispute.
- Cellphone records traced the suspects to the crime scene.
- Court documents reveal gang ties, a bail scheme and revenge motive in the murder.
Two years after a Durham man was fatally shot, two men have been charged with his murder, The News & Observer has learned.
Gregory Lamont Evans, 52, died July 4, 2023, outside a Robinhood Road home, The N&O previously reported.
As of Wednesday morning, Durham police have not announced any arrests in his killing. But The N&O has learned from court records that Eddie Hester Jr., 32, and David Lee Burnette III, 27, have been indicted and arrested on charges of murder in Evans’ death.
Recently released search warrants detailed how investigators pieced together Hester and Burnette’s alleged plot to kill Evans through cellphone records, social media and jail phone calls.
The goal? Revenge for a CashApp scam, warrants claim.
Here’s what we know.
Cellphone records crucial
Police were called to the East Durham home just before 2 a.m. that morning. Evans was dead from a gunshot wound to the chest, according to his autopsy report.
From the start, detectives didn’t believe the killing was random. Evans had been visiting friends and neighbors next door, who told police he’d gone to answer a knock at the back door when he was shot, search warrants state.
Evans’ girlfriend said he was a drug dealer who bought and sold crack cocaine using his phone, according to search warrants. A medical examiner found a foil wrapper “containing white crystalline material” in his shorts pocket, according to the autopsy report.
He’d reportedly received a phone call right before answering the door, which cellphone records confirmed, showing a text saying “I’ll be there in about 4 min[utes]” about eight minutes prior. That same number had called Evans a minute before he was shot, the warrants state.
Cash was also missing from Evans’ wallet, which was found at the scene, search warrants state.
The killing also appeared to be tied to another murder — five rifle casings recovered from the driveway were matched to a June 14, 2022, killing, according to search warrants. One of the people charged in that case was an associate of Hester’s and Burnette’s, and the murder weapon had never been recovered, investigators wrote.
A search of Evans’ CashApp account found three declined transactions from June 3, 2023, for $321 from an account belonging to “Omar Mc” to Evans, according to search warrants. Investigators would discover Evans had instructed Burnette’s father to send $321 in bail money for a friend to “Omar Mc” on CashApp that same night.
Hester’s uncle’s address was tied to the phone number that had called and texted Evans in the minutes before he was killed, search warrants state. Hester had lived there with his uncle at the time of the murder.
Hester and Burnette were both reportedly members of local United Blood Nation gangs in Durham, according to search warrants. Hester and Burnette’s cellphone records also traced their locations to the crime scene at the time of the shooting.
Possible motive for the killing
A motive for the killing emerged when investigators listened to June 4, 2023, phone calls from the Durham County Detention Center, where one of Burnette’s father’s friends was being held.
In the calls, Burnette’s father discussed the alleged CashApp scam and said “he was going to kill Evans,” adding he was “too ashamed” to tell his son about the theft, according to search warrants.
A month later, after Evans died, Burnette’s father told his friend in another jail call “that Evans was dead and that ‘they’ had shot him, but no one had seen who did it,” warrants state. He reportedly described a conversation with Evans where Evans promised to pay him back shortly before the shooting occurred.
Hester was indicted Jan. 7 on a charge of first-degree murder in Evans’ death and was arrested the next day. In an interview with police, he reportedly confessed to his role in the killing, according to search warrants.
“He admitted that he had been at the scene of the murder, had traveled there with the person who shot Evans, and described the weapon used as an [AR-15 pistol],” one search warrant states.
In a follow-up interview in February, Hester told detectives he’d been with Burnette the night of the killing, had traveled to the 1500 block of Robinhood Road with him, and had witnessed Burnette call a man and a woman at the home to ask them if Evans was there.
“Hester stated these calls were made before Evans was contacted by the TextNow number,” a search warrant says. “The purpose of these calls was to facilitate Burnette III murdering Evans by confirming Evans was present at 1502 Robinhood Rd.”
The people who Burnette called reportedly left the house minutes before the shooting, according to the warrant.
“Hester stated he witnessed Burnette III shoot and kill Evans in the curtilage of 1502 Robinhood Rd,” the warrant says.
Burnette was arrested April 25 on unrelated charges; he remained in the Durham County jail as of Friday afternoon facing more than 40 pending charges unrelated to this case, including a federal detainer.
Burnette was indicted on a charge of first-degree murder in Evans’ killing on July 21 and was served with that warrant Aug. 19, court records show.
The Durham Police Department did not respond to inquiries from The News & Observer regarding the status of the case and whether further charges could be pending against additional people.
Editor’s note: This article was updated Aug. 20, 2025, to reflect that Burnette was served with his arrest warrant on a charge of murder Aug. 19.
This story was originally published August 15, 2025 at 3:16 PM.
