Teen charged with murder in school stabbing could be tried as an adult, DA says

RALEIGH, N.C. (WNCN) — Wake County District Attorney Lorrin Freeman said the 14-year-old charged with murder in the deadly stabbing at Southeast Raleigh Magnet High School could be tried as an adult.

Family members of the slain 15-year-old tell CBS 17 his name is Delvin Ferrell.

Freeman said a probable cause hearing likely won’t be for at least 10 days. She said if a judge does find probable cause for murder the case automatically moves to Superior Court and the 14-year-old suspect will be tried as an adult.

CBS 17 asked Freeman if she could recall another instance of a student being charged with murder after an incident on school grounds.

“This is the first case that comes to mind, where we have dealt with this type of case happening, or these types of events happening on school property,” Freeman said.

Freeman said she was not allowed to say whether the weapon police said the suspect used came from home or was brought to the school by another student.

According to the most recent data from the North Carolina Department of Instruction, which is from the 2021-22 school year, Southeast Raleigh Magnet High School has a higher rate of reported crimes per 1,000 students than Wake County Schools as a whole. That includes 16 categories from alcohol possession, to weapons possession, to sexual assault.

The data also shows twice as many reported acts of assault and possession of weapons district-wide compared to pre-pandemic.

“I do think, you know, unfortunately, we have certainly seen not only in Wake County, but across the state an uptick in the number of juveniles charged with homicide and it’s alarming,” Freeman said. “It’s alarming to me, it’s alarming to my colleagues, and I think to our community at large.”

That state data also shows 13 reported instances of students bringing a weapon to Southeast Raleigh Magnet High School in the 2021-22 school year — none of them were guns.

Several parents and students CBS 17 spoke to said they want to see metal detectors, which Wake County does not use.

At a closed-door security meeting Tuesday, CBS 17 asked Board Chair Lindsay Mahaffey if the current safety measures are enough.

“I think we have to always be continuously asking ourselves that question, which is why we had a safety audit back in 2019, so we can make sure that we are continuously doing as much as possible to keep students safe,” Mahaffey said.

She said some of those measures are things kept confidential from parents and students for security reasons.

Raleigh Police continue to investigate the double stabbing. Freeman said more charges could be filed.