Police investigating fatal shooting of young mother in south Durham

Dec. 26—DURHAM — Durham police are investigating the fatal shooting of a woman early Saturday morning on Capstone Drive.

Officers responded to an assault call at 2:15 a.m. in the 1000 block of Capstone Drive just south of C.M. Herndon Park in southern Durham. They found a woman inside a home who was pronounced dead at the scene, according to a news release.

WRAL identified the woman as Jessica Cortez Luna, a young mother of four children, in town visiting family for Christmas.

Relatives also confirmed Luna’s death on Facebook and a GoFundMe page raising money for her funeral expenses.

The release did not provide the woman’s name or details of the incident.

A police watch commander reached Saturday afternoon said the woman was shot and that police had a suspect who was not in custody.

Shootings up in Durham in 2020

As of Nov. 28, the latest date for which The News & Observer had information Saturday, a total of 291 people had been shot in Durham this year. That was up nearly 63% from 179 people shot by the same time last year, according to an email from police spokeswoman Kammie Michael.

Saturday’s death makes at least 37 people killed in the Bull City this year, according to police statistics and news releases.

As of Nov. 28, there had been 32 homicides in Durham this year, according to the Police Department website. That was compared to 37 homicides by the same time last year and a five-year average of 34 homicides by the same time of year from 2014-2019.

The latest death is at least the fifth homicide this month:

— On Dec. 19, Alexander Keith Hairston, 20, of Garner was found fatally shot on Fayetteville Street.

— On Dec. 14, Leondras Anthony Malone, 39, of Durham was found fatally shot inside a car on East Lawson Street.

— On Dec. 9, Cedric Deon Bowens, 42, of Durham was found fatally shot on Fayetteville Street.

— On Dec. 1, Jelani Whittington, 37, of Durham was found fatally shot inside a car on East Main Street.

Anyone with information in Saturday’s homicide is asked to call police at 919-560-4440, ext. 29335 or CrimeStoppers at 919-683-1200. CrimeStoppers pays cash rewards for information leading to arrests in felony cases and callers never have to identify themselves.