19-year-old charged with killing mom, kidnapping sibling from Hillsborough apartment

A 19-year-old woman was charged with killing her mother and kidnapping her sibling from their Hillsborough apartment.

According to the Hillsborough Police Department, on Aug. 14 around 7:45 p.m. officers responded to an apartment in the Bellevue Mill Apartments on South Nash Street, where the family lived.

They found Delila Nicole Westmoreland, 41, dead from multiple gunshot wounds. Investigators also determined Westmoreland's 2-year-old child was missing.

Police arrested Jaydah Westmoreland, 19, who is Delila Westmoreland's daughter, at a Durham home and charged her with first-degree murder and kidnapping.

The toddler was found safe and is with other family members.

Police said bullets entered an adjacent apartment, but no one else was injured.

A coworker created a GoFundMe page for Delila Westmoreland's family, writing she was, "An amazing mother, wife, friend, nurse, and union leader ... Delila graciously served as a nurse to our nation’s heroes at the Durham VA Medical Center and is greatly missed."

According to the GoFundMe, the money will go to help Delila Westmoreland's husband and their three young sons. Friends of Delila Westmoreland knew her as an amazing wife, mother and nurse. She was peace in the center of a storm in the middle of the COVID pandemic.

Delila's friend, AnnMarie Patterson-Powell, said she knew something was wrong when Delila Westmoreland wasn't at work.

"My mind went to, 'oh what a horrible accident to have happen," Patterson-Powell said. "Until she said no, it wasn't. It wasn't an accident. We've been trying since last Tuesday to wrap our mind how this could have happened."

Delila Westmoreland also left behind 17 year-old twins, a two year-old boy and her husband.

Jaydah Westmoreland appeared in court last week, where the state requested she be held without bond. The 19 year-old showed no emotion in as the judge read the charges against her. Search warrants we found in Durham County Court shed more light on where Jaydah was arrested. A Sheriff's deputy found evidence of possible fraudulent credit cards at that home on Lazywood Lane.

The day after the arrest, the Broadcastify 911 call was released.

Dispatch: "Ok, tell me exactly what happened."

Caller: "Well, we just got here and our mom's dead."

Dispatch: "Ok, and she's not breathing at all?"

Caller: "No."

Anyone with information can contact Investigator Van St. Pierre by email or phone at 919-296-9533. Anonymous crime tips can be reported by calling 919-296-9555.

Jaydah Westmoreland's next court date will be Aug. 28. WRAL News has reached out to law enforcement and district attorney's offices on whether JaydahWestmoreland faces additional charges related to possible financial crimes in either county and has not heard back.