Drive-by shooting targeted wrong car, video says

Kate Robins, The High Point Enterprise, N.C.
·3 min read

Aug. 2—HIGH POINT — Two men, a bullet and newspaper carrier were at the center of a murder trial Tuesday involving a drive-by shooting that led to the death of a 61-year-old woman on Aug. 9, 2018.

Moeez Khan Tahirkheli, 23, was charged with first-degree murder and accused of driving the vehicle believed to be involved in the death of Brenda Herbin.

In a video of an interview with Detectives Alex Buben and Matthew Blackman that was played for the jury Tuesday, Tahirkheli, who was 18 at the time of the homicide, said that prior to the shooting of Herbin, he and three other men participated in a drive-by shooting on Merritt Street in Greensboro on Aug. 8.

Tarhirkheli said that after he went back to his house on Hickory Chapel Road in High Point, he later noticed a tan Honda Civic driving back and forth in front of his house. Growing paranoid about potential retaliation, Tahirkheli got into his younger brother's Toyota and began following the car, which Tahirkheli said was driven by a "Mexican with a beard."

Needing backup, Tarhirkheli returned home and called Xavier Joshua Drayton, 23, who has also been charged with first-degree murder. Thirty to 45 minutes later, the two, with Tahirkheli driving, started to pursue what they thought was the same car as it headed towards Franklin Avenue.

Tarhirkheli said that Drayton fired four or five shots towards the Honda Civic and that Drayton said he saw somebody "drop." Tarhirkeli said in the video that he and Drayton drove back to his house, and Drayton immediately left.

For its first witness of the trial, the prosecution called Marion Valentine, who was driving the car Drayton and Tahirkheli were chasing.

Valentine said that at the time she delivered newspapers to addresses in High Point for the Greensboro News and Record, and she was on Franklin Street around 3:30 a.m. that night when she was in a dark gray Honda Civic as Herbin walked past along the street.

After she passed Herbin, Valentine said, she saw a muzzle flash and then heard a gunshot that ended up hitting Herbin on the right side of her face. Valentine drove a block or two away and called 911 to report the gunshots.

Police then came to the scene and performed CPR on Herbin until she was later taken to Wake Forest Baptist Health Medical Center in Winston-Salem, where she died.

Valentine testified that she did not see who shot Herbin and was not aware if anyone was following her when she turned onto Franklin Avenue.

Buben testified Wednesday that physical evidence and the interrogation of Tahirkheli gave him reason to charge Tahirkheli with first-degree murder.

Buben said he also found a Facebook message from Tahirkheli to a friend that said, "Bro, homicide came to my house to search my car."

When the car was searched, investigators said they did not find any gun residue or shell casings in the vehicle. Buben also testified that investigators found the gun at a separate address from Tahirkheli's house where Drayton allegedly sometimes stayed.