A young man was shot dead in northern Durham. Did a former missing teen kill him?
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Durham police arrested 18-year-old Gracie Landa for a May 30 fatal shooting.
- Victim Christopher Piedrasanta-Perez died after gunfire struck him in a car.
- Authorities found over 40 casings; a motive and Landa's role remain undisclosed.
An Alamance County teenager was arrested Monday on a charge of murder in a May shooting in northern Durham.
Gracie Elizabeth Faye Landa, 18, of Burlington is accused of killing Christopher Piedrasanta-Perez, 23, of Durham on May 30, according to the arrest warrant.
Piedrasanta-Perez was one of three people shot inside a vehicle on Rowemont Drive in the Braggtown area about 12:30 a.m. May 30, The News & Observer previously reported.
Two women were also injured in the shooting, but court documents don’t specify if Landa was in the car that night or how investigators believe she is connected to Piedrasanta-Perez’s death.
Piedrasanta-Perez and two friends were sitting in a car near Whipporwill Park when two or three people approached, fired shots into the car and left, according to an investigative report by the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner.
At least 40 casings, including a mix of 9 mm and .223 rifle casings, were found at the scene, the report states. Piedrasanta-Perez was killed by a gunshot wound to the head, according to his autopsy.
In 911 calls released to The N&O, one of the callers said she was in the car and had been shot at least 10 times.
Landa previously had gone missing from her Tampa home in June 2023, with the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children stating a year later they believed the then-17-year-old had traveled to Durham. Authorities never publicly announced she’d been found, but a search for Landa on Wednesday morning generated no results on the center’s website.
Durham police have yet to publicly announce Landa’s arrest as of Thursday evening. She remained in the Durham County jail without bail Thursday.
Piedrasanta-Perez and the two women were at the park that night because one of their friends planned to fight another girl, according to a newly released search warrant. But when Piedrasanta-Perez’s Honda Accord pulled up, two or three people came out of the woods and began shooting at his car; the wounded Piedrasanta-Perez was unable to drive away.
Video footage from a nearby building showed two people coming out of the woods and shooting at the group’s car, the warrant states. The suspects then fled through the woods.
The fight stemmed from a conflict over a romantic relationship, according to the warrant, which doesn’t specify Landa’s alleged ties to the incident.
Piedrasanta-Perez was the first grandchild of 10 and was described in a fundraiser as a “kind soul” who “brought light and comfort to his family.”
This story was originally published August 20, 2025 at 9:29 AM.
