Robbery plot led to fatal shootout at Orange County home, warrant says

A Durham man is charged with murder, another has pleaded guilty and more details are emerging about a March home invasion that left a man dead in Orange County.

Orange County Sheriff’s Office investigators charged Demarcus Da’son Tatum, 28, on July 19 with four felonies — first-degree murder, first-degree burglary, second-degree kidnapping and conspiracy — and a misdemeanor charge of injury to real property, an arrest warrant and court records show.

The arrest came two days after Clarence Brandon Hayes, 28, of Durham pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in the case.

Hayes also pleaded guilty to first-degree burglary, first-degree kidnapping, attempted robbery with a dangerous weapon, possession of a firearm by a felon, felony conspiracy and injury to real property, according to court documents.

Both men and a third who has not been arrested were armed with handguns when investigators said they forced their way into a home on U.S. 70 around midnight on Saturday, March 2, according to a July 23 search warrant.

Jerry Lee Driggers, 58, who lived in the home, shot Hayes during the home invasion and was killed in a shootout. Two other residents, including his sister, were not injured.

Deputies found Hayes early that Sunday morning in the parking lot of the nearby JR Auto Mart with a gunshot wound to the abdomen. Hayes underwent surgery at Duke University Hospital before being charged.

Hayes’ sentence in the case will depend on his testimony against Tatum and a third, unidentified man involved in the home invasion, Orange County District Attorney Jeff Nieman said. Hayes could get life in prison without parole for his charges, but a judge could reduce that to 21 to 26 years if he continues to tell the truth to law enforcement and if called to testify in court, Nieman said.

Hayes and Tatum are being held without bail in the Orange County Detention Center. The third suspect has not been arrested.

More details about home invasion

A search warrant that sheriff’s investigators filed in July for Tatum’s cell phone shows what Hayes and witnesses told them about what led to the fatal shooting.

According to the warrant, Hayes told investigators that Tatum approached him in the parking lot of the Rochelle Manor apartments in Durham about a “lick,” or robbery, that was going down. Hayes said he followed Tatum and an unidentified “white guy” to a “traphouse,” where illegal drugs were being sold.

The men then got into a van, and the unidentified man drove them to a wooded area near Driggers’ home on U.S. 70. The men ran through the woods to the house, where the unidentified man kicked in a sliding glass door, the warrant says.

Tatum and the unidentified man forced a woman who lived at the house into a back bedroom at gunpoint, asking her where the safe was, Hayes and investigators said. Meanwhile, Hayes said he went down the hallway and kicked open a closed door. A man inside the room, later identified as Driggers, fired a .410 single-barrel shotgun, striking Hayes, who returned fire, the warrant said.

As he was running from the house, Hayes told investigators he heard another gunshot. The other men also ran from the home in separate directions, the warrant said.

Investigators with Durham Police Department’s Gang Unit arrested Tatum on July 22 on multiple warrants and turned him over to the Orange County Sheriff’s Office for questioning, the warrant said.

“During the course of the interview, Tatum continuously stated he wasn’t there, he didn’t know who the third person was and that he was tired and would speak with investigators ‘tomorrow,’” the warrant said.

More charges in other counties

N.C. Department of Adult Correction and court records show Tatum has faced a slew of charges since 2014, including for assault on a female, breaking and entering, larceny, drug trafficking and firearms. Many of those charges were dismissed, and he got probation for others, court records show.

Several charges were filed after he failed to show up for court or to meet his probation requirements, records show.

Earlier this year, he “refused” to keep his pre-trial release electronic monitor charged, resulting in it being offline for more than three days while he was facing charges of maintaining a dwelling or vehicle for controlled substances, assault on female, communicating threats, injury to personal property and false imprisonment in Durham County, records show.

He also failed to respond to numerous attempts to contact him via voicemail and text, a court record states.

Those charges and others are still pending against Tatum in Durham County and Wake County, where he was charged in January with felony possession of cocaine, records show.

Hayes also is facing additional charges in Durham County related to a speeding to elude arrest and reckless driving charge in October 2022. In Alamance County, he faces two probation violation charges related to a March 7 charge of speeding to elude arrest in Durham County and the Orange County charge of possession of a firearm by a felon, court records show.

Staff writer Virginia Bridges contributed to this story.