US Marshals arrest suspect in fatal May drive-by shooting in Durham

U.S. Marshals arrested a man Thursday in a fatal drive-by shooting in May, Durham police announced Friday.

Michael Elijah McCray, 21, of Scotland County, is charged with first-degree murder in the May 25 killing of 20-year-old Ricky Orlando Nichols Jr. of Durham, according to a news release.

Nichols was riding in a sedan near the intersection of Dearborn Drive and Old Oxford Road about 5 p.m. when another car pulled up and someone fired several shots into Nichols' side of the car.

The suspect vehicle kept going, and the man driving the car Nichols was in parked in a nearby apartment complex and fled on foot.

Police found the injured Nichols still inside the car. He died at a hospital.

Court records show McCray was initially charged with felony conspiracy in Nichols' killing, with the 21-year-old accused of working "with unknown males" to murder Nichols. That arrest warrant was issued Sept. 5, before a grand jury returned an indictment on the first-degree murder charge Sept. 16.

Nichols was arrested in Richmond County and taken to the Durham County jail, where he is being held without bond, police said. Upon his arrest, he was also served with a warrant from the Cary Police Department on one charge of breaking and entering a motor vehicle with theft and three counts of breaking and entering a motor vehicle.

As of Sept. 14, there had been 27 homicides in Durham this year, police statistics show That is down from 32 and 31 homicides reported by the same time in 2023 and 2022, respectively.