Second man charged with murder nearly 2 months after killing of Raleigh high school basketball star

Wednesday, October 9, 2019
RALEIGH, N.C. (WTVD) -- A second arrest has been made in the death of 18-year-old Desmond Jenkins -- a Raleigh basketball star who was shot near his home in August.

Elijah Umelo, 18, was arrested and charged Wednesday with murder in connection with Jenkins' death.
[Ads /]
Tuesday, police arrested and charged 44-year-old Roland Lacure with murder.

Jenkins, who was shot and killed in Raleigh, was a former star basketball player at Sanderson High School and had committed to continue his career at Vance-Granville Community College.

Roland Lacure



The shooting happened just before midnight on Aug. 10.



Jenkins was found with a gunshot wound in the 9400 block of Prince George Lane.
[Ads /]
RELATED: Raleigh mother seeks answers after teenage son gunned down steps from home

He was taken to WakeMed where he was later pronounced dead.

Vance-Granville coach Gregory Ackles said Jenkins was a great kid.

"He was an incoming freshman who agreed to come play for us back in the winter. Even though I only knew him for a short time, I can tell he was very passionate about life and basketball," he said. "It's just ridiculous that another young person was taken away too soon from his family and friends."

18-year-old shot and killed in Raleigh overnight was Sanderson High School basketball star

[Ads /]
He said he found out the news from an assistant.

"You could hear in his voice something was wrong," Ackles said. "So when I called him back, the first thing out of his mouth was, Des got shot."



He said Jenkins was supposed to move into his college apartment next weekend.

Ackles had a message for the shooter: "You took away a mother's son. You took away a sister's brother. You took away a kid who I was looking forward to coaching. You took away my players' teammate."
Copyright © 2024 WTVD-TV. All Rights Reserved.