Durham's first two homicides of 2018 occur hours, miles apart

Durham almost made it through the month of January with no homicides until two people were killed Tuesday in separate incidents.

Posted 11:26 p.m. Jan 31, 2018 — Updated 12:06 a.m. Feb 1, 2018

Sarah Krueger

, WRAL reporter

DURHAM, N.C. — Durham almost made it through the month of January with no homicides until two people were killed Tuesday in separate incidents.

Darelle Marquis Harper, 31, of Durham, was shot and killed in the parking lot of the Triangle Village Shopping Center on N.C. Highway 54 at about noon Tuesday. An employee of the nearby Colonial Tire & Automotive shop said Harper was sitting in his car when someone walked up and shot him in the neck.

The shop's service manager tried to revive him with CPR but was unsuccessful.

Nine hours later, the body of a woman, later identified as Alicia Elder, 50, of Durham, was found in Hillside Park, which is in a residential area of South Roxboro Street. Police said she had been stabbed but they haven't disclosed who found the body.

Police haven't released any information in either case regarding a motive or possible suspects.

Rose Smith lives near Hillside Park and said she used to play in the sprawling park as a child. But she said Wednesday that her children will no longer be allowed to go there.

"It's not safe for no children to be in no park, crime is that bad," Smith said. "You wouldn’t know what happened to a child out there, running out in the park, playing like that. And [police] never caught the person who stabbed the lady? That’s real bad."

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