Police have arrested two men in the killing of a 13-year-old Durham girl just over one year ago.

Levette Lipscomb (right), 26, of North Briggs Avenue and Brandon Townsend (left), 19, of North Briggs Avenue are charged with murder in the death of Shakanah China, police announced Friday morning.

Both arrests were made this morning. Lipscomb and Townsend are being held in the Durham County Jail without bond.

“We will not be able to release any detailed information,” said Acting Deputy Police Chief Larry Smith, who made the announcement. “It's still an ongoing case.”

Smith did say that that a new lead led to the arrests, and that China was an “unintended victim” when she was shot to death May 10, 2011, a few days after her 13th birthday.

China was playing with her younger sister and brother and texting on her new cell phone when she was shot. Family members and friends have said it was a gang looking for payback that shot into a group of people standing in the apartment driveway in eastern Durham.
 

Mayor Bill Bell laid out the first steps in what he called an "ongoing strategy" to cut violent crime in Durham, especially crimes involving firearms.

In an afternoon press conference, he said violent crime went up 3 percent in 2011 over the previous year.

“This is a very disturbing trend that we as a community should not and cannot accept,” he said.

Bell said the four steps are “but the first” as the city develops ongoing crime-prevention strategies. ...

"Don't Shoot: One Man, a Street Fellowship and the End Of Violence In Inner-City America" is a must read (well, maybe a you-really-ought-to-read) around City Hall and Police HQ these days.

"It's something that caught my attention," said City Manager Tom Bonfield. After he read it, Bonfield bought copies for City Council members. Bonfield said Police Chief Jose L. Lopez has also bought copies for his command staff.

"There's a lot of people looking at it," Bonfield said.

DURHAM A Durham man died Thursday night after being shot on Cheek Road.

Jerry Wayne Morgan, 54, of Sidneys Way, died at Durham Regional Hospital, according to police spokeswoman Kammie Michael. Police responded about 8 p.m. to notification of a patient with a gunshot wound.

Investigators report that Morgan was working on a vehicle in the 2700 block of Cheek Road, near Junction Road in eastern Durham, when he was shot. A woman approached him, they exchanged words, and she fired, then left in a burgundy Oldsmobile Bravada.

No charges have been filed.

Police ask anyone with information to call Investigator Pate at 560-4440, ext. 29332 or CrimeStoppers at 683-1200.

DURHAM A high-school football player from Pennsylvania was shot and killed, and a teammate wounded, in a Durham parking lot Thursday night.

Gabriel James Gamez, 22, of San Antonio, Texas (at right) has been arrested and charged with murder and assault with a deadly weapon.
 
Police have not released the victims’ names, but the web site of the Gateway High School football team in Monroeville, Pa. identifies the deceased as rising senior Darrell Turner and the wounded player as rising junior Thomas Woodson.

Gamez and the victims did not know each other, according to police.
The victims and their teammates were spending the night at the Springhill Suites hotel on McFarland Drive, off Durham-Chapel Hill Boulevard, en route to a football camp in Florida.

Durham Police Chief Jose L. Lopez said Gamez was also a guest at the hotel and was in Durham for a family funeral.

The shootings took place in the parking lot of an AT&T store at 5348 McFarland Drive. Lopez said they happened after an altercation as the players, along with several teammates, were returning to the hotel from a restaurant.

“This is a case from out of state. This was situation that could have happened in Anytown, U.S.A.,” Lopez said. “The United States has a real serious problem regarding violence.”

Police arrived at the scene about 10:05 p.m. Both victims were taken to Duke Hospital, where Turner later died. Woodson’s wound, in the leg, was not life-threatening, according to Durham Police.

Gamez was arrested at the hotel soon after 2 a.m. today.

According to the team web site, Gateway Gators Coach Terry Smith listed Turner, a linebacker, as a Division I college prospect. Woodson is the team’s starting quarterback.

Police ask any witnesses to the shooting or anyone with information to call Investigator Schnee at 560-4440, ext. 29320.
 

Police in Butner have arrested a Durham man wanted for a 2010 murder on Dearborn Drive.

Terrance Burney, 34, of Dearborn Drive (at right) is charged him with murdering Christopher Pollard, 29, of Crest Street. Pollard was pronounced dead at the scene from a gunshot wound when officers arrived at 3817 Dearborn Drive in response to a call early on the morning of June 12, 2010.

Burney is being held in the Granville County Jail without bond.

Anyone with information on the case is asked to call Investigator Pate at 560-4440, ext. 29322 or CrimeStoppers at 683-1200. According to Durham Police, Burney’s arrest was the result of a tip to CrimeStoppers.
 

Orange County Sheriff's Investigator Chris Upchurch said today his team is still trying to identify the victim of a fatal shooting at the Platinum Royale strip club late Saturday night. He said the man was Hispanic but could release no additional information about him. "I'm still trying to verify some information about him," Upchurch said. Another man and a woman were injured in the shooting, and Upchurch declined to release their names pending additional investigation.

Durham police are investigating a homicide that occurred Monday afternoon on Allgood Street in northern Durham.
 
Officers responded to a call about a disturbance with a weapon near the intersection of Allgood Street and Belvin Avenue shortly before 2 p.m. Monday.

When they arrived, they found 18-year-old Jonathan Royster of Piper Street lying in the street. Royster, who had been shot, was pronounced dead at the scene. A suspect was seen fleeing from the scene on foot. No charges have been filed.

Anyone with information is asked to call Cpl. Pennica at 560-4440, ext. 29320 or CrimeStoppers at 683-1200.

Police Chief Jose Lopez told the city council Thursday that Durham’s rates of homicide and rape were down compared with the first nine months of 2007, but increased incidents of robbery and assault pushed the city’s overall rate of violent crime to an 8 percent rise in 2008.