Stabbing Suspect Now Faces Murder Charge

RALEIGH, N.C. — A suspect arrested in connection with two stabbings – one fatal – that happened near a bus stop on Monday now faces a charge of murder in the case.

Rashon Arturo Martine, 20, was arrested Monday evening and initially charged with attempted murder and assault with a deadly weapon inflicting serious injuries. He was being held in the Wake County Jail Tuesday without bond.

Charges were upgraded Tuesday to include murder after one of the victims, Rashem Chamaul Still, 21, died Monday at WakeMed. Witnesses said he was stabbed in the heart while trying to break up an argument. Police said he was stabbed multiple times.

Police said the stabbings occurred shortly before 3 p.m. near the Walden Woods Condominiums in the 4600 block of Grinding Stone Drive. They found the victims in a vehicle at the corner of East Millbrook Road and Walenda Drive, police said Tuesday.

Witnesses said the assailant was upset following an argument and started swinging a knife at people in the area.

The second victim, Brandon Anthony Willis, 16, was treated and released from WakeMed Monday for a stab wound in the back, police said.

Also on Tuesday, Raleigh police said they recovered a Honda Accord that was stolen from a passerby near the stabbing on Monday.

Anthony Wayne Williams, 38, was arrested overnight in New Kent County, Va. Police called the incident a crime of opportunity, noting the driver of the car had stopped to ask an officer about the stabbing investigation when her car was stolen.

Details about the investigation or a motive for the stabbings were limited Tuesday, but some thought Martine, who does not have a criminal record, might have been trying to defend his younger brother when the stabbing occurred.

Those who live in the Walden Woods community fear the crimes might have been gang-related.

People in the neighborhood said Still was involved in a gang but his grandmother, Patricia Williams, denied that.

"You know how children are, always trying to act like they're in a gang, sometimes," she said. "They weren't gang people. They were overly protected children."

Regarless of the reason, the stabbings have left many people in the neighborhood wondering when the violence among young people will stop.

"It's just senseless," resident Charles Brown said Monday evening. "These kids – they have no sense of value on life."