38-year-old Lontrel Alston had his first appearance in Durham County court Monday morning.
Alston is charged with the death of 43-year-old Victoria James after a shooting on Revere Road Saturday afternoon.
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Durham Police say the incident was domestic, and James and Alston were previously in a relationship.
Alston is charged with First Degree Murder, two counts of Assault with a Deadly Weapon with Intent to Kill, Discharging a Weapon inside an Occupied Vehicle and Habitual Misdemeanor Assault.
Loved ones of James tell WRAL her two children were in the car at the time of the shooting.
One of her children, an adult woman, was transported to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. The 16-year-old male in the car was uninjured.
During Alston’s first appearance, the judge assigned him a public defender. His attorney argued he is not a threat to flee, with no Failures to Appear in the last two years.
He pointed to what he called a “limited” violent history of Alston, with three past violent convictions.
Court records show Alston was convicted of misdemeanor assault and assault on a female in 2018 in Halifax County.
Alston’s attorney told the court he is a high school graduate with a landscaping job. He said Alston has five children who he “supports monthly.”
The Durham County judge gave Alston no bond and scheduled his next court date for October 1st.
Data from the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services shows intimate partner violence accounts for a proportion of homicides each year.
The department’s Durham data from 2015 through 2024 shows 38% of female deaths and 8% of male deaths were due to intimate partner violence.