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

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Wednesday, October 9, 2019
Second man charged with murder nearly 2 months after killing of Raleigh high school basketball star
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.

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.



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.



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."





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."

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