UNC shooting; trooper shoots man in Raleigh, 3 dead in Durham: Triangle homicide tracker
Five people were killed in separate homicides in the Triangle last week.
One of the killings, the on-campus shooting of UNC-Chapel Hill professor Zijie Yan on Monday afternoon, made national news when the university locked down the campus for three hours as police searched for the suspect.
The News & Observer and The Herald-Sun now list the Triangle’s most recent homicides online on Mondays in this new weekly roundup.
An interactive map, a searchable database, and links to our stories provide details on each death and the status of the investigation.
We are reassessing how we report homicides and violent crime.
▪ We want to rely less, especially on initial stories, on official sources alone.
▪ We want to emphasize trends and tell more about those killed and those affected by loss and violence in their communities.
▪ We want to create time in our reporters’ schedules to go deeper in search of better stories.
To do this, we may forgo separate stories on deaths when there is little information and sometimes not even a victim’s name.
The new homicide tracker, however, will include all violent deaths. (See below.) With the map, you can hover on a dot and learn the basic details. With the database, you will be able to search on incidents by name.
Know that as you do this, we are working to learn more about each case, about the victim and the ripples their death has in the community.
If you know one of the victims of the homicides listed below and would like to tell their story, please contact reporters Colleen Hammond at chammond@newsobserver.com or Aaron Sánchez-Guerra at asanchezguerra@newsobserver.com
These are the homicides in the Triangle from Aug. 28 - Sep. 4.
UNC Chapel Hill shooting
Date: Aug. 28
Victim: Zijie Yan
Age: NA
Location: Caudill Laboratories on South Road at UNC-Chapel Hill
Arrest: UNC police have charged graduate student Tailei Qi, 34, with murder
What we know:
Physics professor Zijie Yan was fatally shot in the Caudill Labs building by graduate student Tailie Qi at 1:02 p.m., according to police. Qi was charged with first-degree murder and with possessing a 9 mm pistol on educational property.
Police have not found the gun and could not confirm how many shots were fired.
Qi was found in a neighborhood off campus after eyewitnesses called 911. Orange County District Attorney Jeff Neiman said he would not seek the death penalty.
Link to coverage:
What we know about the shooting at UNC-Chapel Hill after arrest of suspect
‘We will never forget.’ UNC comes together to mourn slain professor at candlelight vigil
Dr. Zijie Yan, prolific, resilient and generous scientist, killed in UNC shooting
Raleigh homicides
Date: Sept. 1
Victim: David Millette
Age: 27
Location: 500 block of Glenwood Avenue
Arrest: Raleigh police have charged Tyrell Jarue Moore, 23, with murder
What we know:
On Aug. 26, shortly after 2 a.m., David Millette was punched, fell to the ground and hit his head on the sidewalk, according to news partner ABC11. He died Friday.
Millette was the general manager, operating partner, and part owner of Midwood Smokehouse, a barbecue restaurant in Raleigh that called Millette’s death a “senseless act of violence.”
Anyone with information about the incident on Aug. 26 is asked to contact Raleigh police at 919-996-1193.
Link to story:
Date: Sep. 1
Victim: Jaylen Latrelle Routt
Age: 20
Location: Intersection of East and Branch streets.
Arrest: None
What we know:
A state trooper fatally shot Jaylen Latrelle Routt of Fayetteville after he allegedly fired at officers trying to pull him over after he was clocked traveling at 101 mph in a 70 mph zone in Johnston County.
Routt, 20, allegedly fled west on Interstate 40 before exiting onto Hammond Road and crashing in a grassy lot at the intersection of East and Branch streets.
Troopers exchanged gunfire with him after he got out of the car, the State Highway Patrol said.
Master Trooper Harrison Nazal of Johnston County shot Routt, who died from his injuries at a WakeMed hospital.
Nazal is on administrative duty while the State Bureau of Investigation reviews the incident.
Link to story: Trooper kills murder suspect in shootout after high-speed chase ends in Raleigh
Durham homicides
Date: Aug. 31
Victims: Robert Terrell
Ages: 45
Locations: Intersection of Holloway Street and Brye Street
Arrest: None
What we know:
Two men were killed within minutes of each other Thursday afternoon (See next entry).
In the first shooting around 4:50 p.m. on Holloway Street, officers found Robert Terrell, 45, fatally shot on the sidewalk.
Police said it’s too soon to tell whether the two shootings are connected.
Link to story:
Date: Aug. 31
Victims: Devin Rogers
Ages: 22
Locations: 1000 block of North Miami Boulevard
Arrest: None
What we know:
Two men and one male juvenile were shot in the 1000 block of North Miami Boulevard late Thursday afternoon.
Devin Rogers, 22, of Burlington, died at the hospital from his injuries.
The other man, whose name was not released, was sent to the hospital with life-threatening injuries, while the juvenile is recovering from a non-life-threatening injury.
Link to story:
Date: Sept. 2
Victim: Unidentified
Age: Not available
Location: Mallard Avenue and Neville Street
Arrest: None
What we know:
Durham police responded to a ShotSpotter alert around 1:30 a.m. Saturday and found a man suffering a gunshot wound between Mallard Avenue and Neville Street. The area is off North Elizabeth Street near downtown Durham.
The man died at the hospital from his injuries.
There is no known motive for the shooting, and as of Monday morning, Durham police have not identified the man.
Link to story:
Wake County homicides
There were no new homicides reported outside Raleigh in Wake County from Aug. 28 to Sept. 4.
Orange County homicides
There were no new homicides reported in Orange County from Aug. 28 to Sept. 4.
Database editor David Raynor contributed to this report.
