Woman charged with breaking into NC State chancellor's home on campus
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Maya Barbour was arrested after allegedly breaking into the N.C. State chancellor's home.
- She faces a first-degree burglary charge and remained jailed without bail Monday.
- Court records show she was involuntarily committed for mental health concerns in July.
A woman was arrested Sunday after police say she broke into N.C. State Chancellor Kevin Howell’s home while he was inside.
As first reported by CBS17, Maya McKenzie Barbour, 44, is charged with first-degree burglary in the incident on N.C. State’s Centennial Campus, according to her arrest warrant.
Police were called to the home about 8:45 a.m. after a woman was discovered sleeping inside the $3.5 million home, according to N.C. State spokesperson Mick Kulikowski.
Barbour is not affiliated with the university, Kulikowski said.
Police say she entered the home “with intent to commit a larceny,” though court documents don’t specify what she allegedly planned to steal.
Court records show Barbour has been in and out of jail in Cumberland and Wake counties multiple times since the spring of 2024. In 2025 alone, she had multiple charges, including indecent exposure and second-degree trespassing, dismissed in five cases.
Court documents repeatedly list Barbour as being homeless, and before Sunday’s incident, she had most recently been arrested in November in Raleigh on a charge of simple assault. The Wake County District Attorney’s Office dismissed the charge Jan. 23, two days before the alleged break-in, because Barbour had served more time in jail than she would have been sentenced to, according to court records.
Barbour was involuntarily committed in Cumberland County in July 2025 after she allegedly refused to speak with a forensic evaluator who wanted to determine her capacity to proceed with a trial on charges of indecent exposure and resisting a public officer.
“Defendant’s speech is frantic and disorganized. Defendant is unable to answer questions about her case in a sensical [sic] manner,” an assistant district attorney wrote in a July 14, 2025, filing. “Defendant’s answers to questions about her social/biological history are inconsistent and contradictory. Defendant does not seem to understand the charges against her.”
Barbour’s charges were dismissed July 22, 2025, and she was subsequently committed to Cape Fear Valley Hospital in Fayetteville for an unspecified amount of time.
Local advocates have called for updated procedures and legislation involving defendants with mental health concerns after the killing of Raleigh teacher Zoe Welsh earlier this month. Welsh was allegedly beaten to death by 36-year-old Ryan Camacho, who had been in and out of jails in Durham and Wake counties and deemed incapable of proceeding with a trial in a larceny case weeks before Welsh’s death, The N&O previously reported.
Barbour also faces pending charges in Robeson County in a Sept. 17, 2025, incident where she allegedly stood in the middle of the southbound lane on Interstate 95 for several hours, according to court documents.
Court records show she failed to appear for scheduled hearings in that case Dec. 15 and Jan. 8.
Barbour remained in the Wake County jail without bail as of Monday afternoon as she awaited her first court appearance on the latest charge. She’s been ordered not to return to N.C. State’s campus until authorized to do so.
NC Reality Check is an N&O series holding those in power accountable and shining a light on public issues that affect the Triangle or North Carolina. Have a suggestion for a future story? Email realitycheck@newsobserver.com.
This story was originally published January 26, 2026 at 2:13 PM.
