A former Duke University football player has confessed to the July 2024 killing of North Carolina real estate agent Whitney Hurd.
The New York Post reports Brandon Braxton wrote “I killed Whitney Hurd” in a message to the Mecklenburg Sheriff’s Office earlier this month while he was being held on an unrelated crime.
Braxton, who played for the Duke Blue Devils between 2010 and 2013, was friends with Hurd in high school but fell out of touch for a few years. Police said Braxton began showing up outside of Hurd’s home in south Charlotte years after he graduated from Duke and once tried to break into her house, although a timeline of his alleged appearance was not provided.
Hurd was reported missing by her family on July 11. Her body was discovered inside her townhome three days later. Hurd multiple stab wounds and her death was declared to be a homicide. Neighbors told police that an unidentified man drove from the home on July 4 in Hurd’s BMW. The automobile was later recovered and Braxton’s fingerprints were found inside the vehicle and Hurd’s home.
Braxton was arrested on July 24 for an unrelated larceny of a motor vehicle and released on Aug. 14. He was arrested again January on a trespassing charge and messaged the Mecklenburg Sheriff’s office about Hurd’s death from a jail kiosk on March 3. However, he was released from jail on March 18 – he was arrested for Hurd’s death on March 20 after officials were able to confirm the kiosk message was written by Braxton.
Braxton faces charges of first-degree felony murder and felony robbery with a dangerous weapon.
Photo: Mecklenburg County Sheriff’s Office
