Police say a man suspected in last week’s double homicide in northeast Charlotte may have fled the area, but authorities continue to request the public’s help in finding him.
CMPD has identified the suspect as Vurnel Smith Jr., 40. He is believed to be traveling in a believed to be traveling in a 2017 black Honda CRV with N.C. license plate: PAS-9116.
On Friday, authorities identified the second homicide victim as 69-year-old Rufus Gordon, whose body was found Thursday in the truck of a car. Smith also is suspected in the killing of Jacqueline Gordon-White, 65, who was found dead inside a house in the 9000 block of Red Clay Lane.
A suspect identified
According to local news reports, search warrants indicate that the two were killed on Tuesday, July 25, although their bodies were not discovered for another two days. Police have not said how they died.
Smith became a suspect when a woman drove to hospital seeking treatment for injuries. WBTV reported that the homicide victims were the parents of the injured woman.
Have you seen Vurnel Smith Jr.? He is wanted in 2 murders. May be in a black 2017 Honda CRV LX w/ NC plate PAS-9116. Call 911 i you see him. pic.twitter.com/efbIjP02O6
— CMPD News (@CMPD) July 28, 2017
A police source told WBTV that Smith allegedly held that woman captive over days and was sexually assaulting her, but she managed to get out of the house Thursday morning and drive to the hospital. Her father’s body was found inside the trunk of the car she used in her escape. She directed police to the house on Red Clay Lane, where her mother’s body was found.
Police last week described the killings as a domestic dispute.
Abuse allegations
In an unrelated case, a woman who said she is married to Smith filed a domestic violence complain two weeks ago accusing him of abuse, including claims that he once threatened to kill her, the Observer reported.
Court records from the domestic violence complaint were filed by Keydra Smith on July 15 in Mecklenburg County District Court. The wife alleged that Smith showed up drunk at her job at a local banking company, even though she’d asked him not to contact her, the Observer reported.
In her complaint, Keydra Smith described a pattern of abuse dating back to March 2016. (The couple married two years ago in Charlotte, the Observer reported.)
District Court Judge Regan Miller denied the wife’s request, saying she failed to prove a domestic violence order was warranted, court records show.
