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Left: Brandon Braxton (Mecklenburg County Sheriff’s Office). Right: Whitney Heard (Facebook).
Almost a year after a North Carolina woman was found stabbed to death in her home, one of her former classmates allegedly confessed to the crime while in jail.
According to an affidavit filed on March 20, Brandon Braxton, 33, was charged with the murder of Whitney Hurd, 32, who was found dead in her home on July 14, 2024. Braxton, who was in custody at the Mecklenburg County Jail on an unrelated charge, reportedly submitted a grievance on March 3 with a note that read, “I killed Whitney Hurd.” Detectives confirmed through video surveillance that it was Braxton who wrote the note. Braxton, who has a long list of arrests in North Carolina, was named as a person of interest in the case and has now been formally charged.
Hurd was discovered in the early afternoon of July 14, 2024, and just hours before that, one of her neighbors told police that she saw a man driving Hurd’s white BMW X3 away from her home with no one in the passenger’s seat. She reportedly told police that Hurd “never let other people drive her car.”
The affidavit stated that the vehicle was later found using cellphone data from Hurd’s phone, which was never recovered.
Law&Crime’s “Sidebar with Jesse Weber” recently delved into Braxton’s criminal past and his history with Hurd, a former classmate from high school. According to the affidavit, Braxton was interviewed by police on Aug. 8, 2024, a couple of weeks after Hurd was found dead. At the time, police said that Braxton confirmed they used to “hang out” in high school and that he had been inside her residence. He denied to police that he had ever been in her vehicle. Braxton, who had just been signed out of jail after being arrested for an unrelated crime on July 24, 2024, reportedly acknowledged that he was aware of what had just happened to Hurd.
When police asked Braxton about the last time he saw Hurd, he reportedly said, “she looked petrified.” He also allegedly told police that he “would not provide further details” when asked if he knew where she was.
The affidavit stated that during interviews with Hurd’s friends and family, they said that while Hurd and Braxton “used to be friends” in high school, the two lost touch over the years. They also said that Braxton “began showing up at her residence,” and recounted an incident during which he “had fallen asleep intoxicated” in Hurd’s driveway “when she wouldn’t let him in.”
At some point, per the affidavit, Braxton allegedly broke into Hurd’s home, which prompted Hurd to call the police and inform her friends.
Police said in the affidavit that fingerprints found at the crime scene and in Hurd’s SUV matched Braxton’s. Phone records also allegedly showed that Braxton was in the area at the estimated time of the crime.
Braxton remains in custody at the Mecklenberg County Jail without bond after being charged with first-degree murder and robbery with a dangerous weapon.
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