Teen, 3 others arrested in killing of 19-year-old Durham man last fall
Four people have been charged in the killing of a 19-year-old man whose body was found in Morrisville last fall, Durham police said Friday.
Semar Barbour of Durham was reported missing in October 2023, The News & Observer previously reported.
His body was found roughly three weeks later in a parked car in Morrisville, but police there said he had been killed “in another jurisdiction.”
Investigators determined Barbour had been shot several times and killed on Delray Street in Durham on Oct. 23, 2023, Durham police said Friday in a news release.
Barbour, who was born in Colorado, was a graduate of Southern High School in Durham, according to an online obituary. He attended Holton Career & Resource Center and Hair Masterz Barber & Beauty School and earned a barber certificate from Bull City College, the obituary stated.
Suspects and their charges
On Friday, Durham police announced they have arrested three men and a woman in Barbour’s death.
▪ Phillip Maurice Williams Jr., 18, of Durham, is charged with murder and conspiracy to commit murder
▪ Nakia Montell Williams, 48, of Durham, is charged with murder, conspiracy to commit murder, and concealment of death
▪ Theodore Cash, 68, of Durham, is charged with accessory after the fact (murder)
▪ Shelia Frazier Cash, 68, of Durham, is charged with accessory after the fact (murder)
The four suspects were taken into custody this week with help from Durham Police’s Selective Enforcement Team, the Gang Unit, and the Carolinas Regional Fugitive Task Force, according to the release. They are all being held in the Durham County jail without bail.
The investigation timeline
▪ Oct. 23: Barbour was last seen leaving a home on Glenbrittle Drive in northeast Durham, police said Oct. 30.
▪ Oct. 30: The Durham Police Department issued a missing persons alert, asking for help finding him.
▪ Nov. 13: Morrisville police found Barbour’s body in the back seat of a car parked near homes on Walnut Woods Drive after someone reported the vehicle to police.
The shooting remains under investigation. Police ask anyone with information to contact Investigator A. Bongarten at 919-560-4440 ext. 29529 or CrimeStoppers at 919-683-1200 or www.durhamcrimestoppers.org.
