Durham man charged for murder in woman's 2019 death, already charged in two other homicides

Mario Blanding, 34, was already in Durham County jail on the other murder charges when authorities issued the latest murder indictment.

Blanding was indicted last week in the 2019 shooting death of 32-year-old Nikki Bazemore. It's not clear what led police to suspect Blanding.

Nikki Bazemore was discovered shot to death in a wooded area in Durham, just off of Hursey Street, on the morning of Sept. 15, 2019.

A week later, WRAL reported in 2019, police said they had no new information regarding the homicide.

Bazemore's family spoke with WRAL, desperately searching for answers about what happened.

Family members said what happened to Bazemore is a complete puzzle. They say she didn’t have time to get mixed up in anything that would have put her life in jeopardy.

"For somebody to take come and take a mother of three away like that, it just don’t make no sense," her mother, Yvonne Hunt, said. "She was real hard working. She had three jobs as well to try and make sure she could try and take care of her and her kids."

Blanding has been charged with two separate murders on Feb. 3 this year, as well as four other robbery cases.

He was charged with fatally shooting Antone Baines, 38, of Durham, on Cushman Street early that evening, according to the police news release. He is also charged with fatally shooting Corey Gooch, 40, of Durham, not long after on Hardee Street. Police reported neither shooting appeared to be random.