'We have a gang feud going on here in Durham': Court documents detail FBI's investigation into Durham gangs
New court documents from the sentencing of gang members for the death of a 9-year-old boy reveal something Durham city leaders have denied for years: Gangs are in several neighborhoods in the city and the FBI is investigating them.
The documents explain who is in the gangs and how arrests have led to different groups taking over different neighborhoods.
On Wednesday, gang member Dival Magwood was sentenced to almost 22 years in prison for the shooting death of 9-year-old Z’yon Person.
“So long as these gangs appeal to people, these cases are going to continue,” federal judge William Osteen said Monday in court.
Osteen's comments came after two gang members were sentenced to life in prison for shooting and killing Person in Durham.
In August 2019, rival gang members assaulted Antonio Davenport at Southpoint Mall, posting a video on Instagram.
Days later, seeking revenge, Davenport and two other men mistook the car Person was in for that of a rival gang member and opened fire, shooting and killing the boy.
The gang Davenport was part of is known to operate in multiple public housing complexes, including Oxford Manor, Liberty Street and McDougald Terrace.
Court documents show adults recruited younger people into the gang, and that it grew and got more powerful after arrests and murders of rival gang members.
Davenport was a rapper with a growing fanbase, and he had recently signed $1 million record deal. However, he continued to sell drugs and participate in other gang activity.
FBI investigates
FBI investigator Maria Jocys led the investigation of Person’s murder. She told WRAL News that social media has been a driving force in the violence.
“They’re able to get on Instagram Live, taunt each other and share their locations and encourage drive-by shootings,” Jocys said.
Jocys explained what she’s seen during her investigations.
“In a lot of these shootings, innocent people, either they’re struck, their vehicles are struck or they are fortunate and are able to duck being shot or not have their property damaged,” Jocys said.
In spring 2020, the FBI did a retrospective with the Durham Police Department to look back 18 months to examine reports, addresses, time of crimes, suspects, victims and forensic evidence.
“We could tie different incidents to the same firearm because the shell casings matched,” Jocys said. “What we saw when we did this was an unbelievable timeline and picture of, ‘Yeah, we have a gang feud going on here in Durham, and it’s violent.’”
The Raleigh-Durham Safe Streets Task Force investigated one gang "which is responsible for a significant portion of the violent crime and drug distribution in the Durham area,” the documents state.
The documents said that the gang to which Davenport belonged increased its presence in McDougald Terrace after another gang's leaders were arrested and removed.
As far back as 2019, the FBI was investigating what was described as an "extremely violent feud” between two gangs.
Jocys said authorities started to see more teens involved starting in 2019.
“The gang leaders, the influencers, were encouraging the younger people to go out and do shootings, chastising them when they thought they hadn’t put in enough work yet, meaning shootings and stealing cars,” Jocys said.
Jocys said the feuding continues. While she said Durham has more than 2,000 validated gang members, she acknowledged only a small number are committing the violent crimes.
“It picked up because the adults were using juveniles to basically go out and do their bidding for them because their belief was that the juveniles would not be held to the same level of accountability as adults,” Jocys said.
Durham mayor addresses the ongoing violence
On Wednesday, WRAL News spoke with Durham Mayor Elaine O’Neal on the phone about the ongoing violence.
“Having sat in the courtroom for about 24 years, in, unfortunately, similar situations, you never get over the weight of all of it,” O’Neal said. “There’s a lot of heartache that goes on with that for me personally, and those families.
“Everybody involved, that is just a lot of pain.”
WRAL News asked O’Neal whether she believes Durham has a gang problem.
“Not just for Durham … I think there are a lot of young people who feel like that they don’t have options other than the street life and making it there, whatever that means for them,” O’Neal said. “There are just a number of young people across the U.S. and Durham is no different from that.”
O’Neal said Durham leaders have met with Durham Public Schools and county leaders to discuss after-school and evening activities for young people.
“It’s not going to be fixed overnight, but we’re committed to keep plugging away where we can intervene, but this is definitely a community effort for all of us to have a part in how we address the senseless violence that [we] are seeing.”
O’Neal also mentioned Bull City United and other civic groups to help address the ongoing violence.
“Most of the young people that I’ve dealt with over the last 30 years or so who are in some of these situations, most of them need a role model and an opportunity,” O’Neal said.
