A man accused of fatally stabbing his girlfriend, a longtime women\u2019s basketball coach, in her Raleigh, North Carolina, home was arrested following a confrontation with detectives in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania. <\/p>\n
Rickey Harper, 60, is charged with first-degree murder in the death of Sheremy Gwenette Dillard, 57, who was found dead inside her home on Thursday, Aug. 13, according to the Raleigh Police Department.<\/p>\n
Raleigh police said officers were sent to Dillard’s home on Whistling Straits Way around 12:18 p.m. Aug. 13 after family members reported they had not heard from her. Her family told officers she lived at the home with Harper.<\/p>\n
Officers found Dillard dead inside the residence with injuries that appeared consistent with a stabbing, police said. Harper was not at the home when the investigation began.<\/p>\n
Detectives gathered evidence and used flock cameras to develop investigative leads that helped identify Harper as a suspect, according to Raleigh police. The case was presented to the Wake County District Attorney’s Office, which authorized a first-degree murder charge against Harper.<\/p>\n
The following day, on Friday, Aug. 14, Raleigh detectives contacted the Plymouth Township Police Department and provided information indicating Harper was in the area of a Courtyard Marriott hotel on Fountain Road in Plymouth Township. <\/p>\n
Police were told he might be driving a white Chevrolet Astro van with North Carolina registration.<\/p>\n
Detectives conducted surveillance in the area of the hotel and surrounding businesses and ultimately found Harper\u2019s vehicle parked at the Plymouth Meeting Mall.\u00a0<\/p>\n
According to police, detectives saw Harper walking from the mall toward the van and confronted him in the parking lot to take him into custody. <\/p>\n
Harper immediately became confrontational and refused to surrender. Police said he even encouraged detectives to shoot him. After a brief standoff, the detectives took him into custody. <\/p>\n
Harper was arraigned and remanded to the Montgomery County Correctional Facility without bail, according to police. <\/p>\n
The Raleigh Police Department is still investigating the incident.<\/p>\n
Dillard was a longtime women’s basketball coach and former teacher at Carrboro High School who more recently worked in the Wake County school system, according to a statement from Carrboro High.<\/p>\n
The school described Dillard as leaving “a profound legacy of class, grace, wisdom and dedicated service” and said she was dedicated to her players, colleagues and students.<\/p>\n