Man Arrested on Murder Charge After American Tobacco Trail Stabbing

LaRue Barbee, a 46-year-old Durham man, was arrested on a first-degree murder charge in the fatal stabbing of 51-year-old Chesleigh Eloyd Lyons along the American Tobacco Trail, closing a weeks-long manhunt that had unsettled residents and regular trail users across the Triangle.

Durham Police responded at 4:13 p.m. on March 9 to a report of a stabbing behind a building near the intersection of Fayetteville Street and Pilot Street. Officers found Lyons suffering from a stab wound and pronounced him dead at the scene. The trail in that stretch, which passes through a densely populated corridor south of downtown Durham and into Wake County, sees heavy foot and bicycle traffic during afternoon commuting hours.

Investigators concluded early in the case that the killing did not appear to be a random attack, telling the public that Lyons likely knew his attacker. Detectives spent weeks building their case before publicly releasing Barbee's name and the homicide charge around March 25, when Durham Police asked residents to help locate him.

The stretch of trail near Fayetteville and Pilot streets sits close to a block where two other men were shot the previous weekend, drawing attention to a cluster of violent incidents in a short span near one of the region's most heavily used recreational corridors. The American Tobacco Trail runs approximately 22 miles through Durham and Wake counties, drawing runners, cyclists, and commuters daily.

Anyone with additional information about the case can contact Durham CrimeStoppers at (919) 683-1200. Callers are not required to identify themselves, and CrimeStoppers offers cash rewards of up to $2,000 for information leading to felony arrests.