RALEIGH, N.C. (WNCN) — A Raleigh man is charged with murder and assault following a stabbing incident that left one man dead and three injured at a nightclub over the weekend, according to arrest warrants.
Kwame Smith, 29, is charged with murder, assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill inflicting serious injury, and misdemeanor assault with a deadly weapon.
According to warrants, Smith killed George Franklin Burnette, 33. Family members told CBS 17 that Smith was stabbed to death at Club 30 Plus on Rush Street. Three more victims were stabbed or slashed with a hunting knife at the club, warrants show.
Family members said Burnette was a husband and father of three: two girls and a boy. His family came together Monday to remember him.
CLICK PHOTO TO ENLARGE
Burnette was at his cousin’s birthday party at the club on Sunday morning when the stabbings occurred.
It was just one of four violent incidents in Raleigh in less than 24 hours. It started with a shooting at the Fiddle Stix gas station on Capital Boulevard just after midnight. Then, around 1:30 a.m., Burnette was one of four people stabbed or slashed at Club 30 Plus. Less than an hour later, a man was shot and killed on Crest Street off Varsity Drive. Finally, around 8:30 p.m., a man was shot on South Saunders Street.
There have been 29 homicides in Raleigh in 2019. There were 17 in 2018 and 27 in 2017. The number of non-fatal shootings is on the decline.
Smith is being held in the Wake County Detention Center. He was given a $25,000 secured bond on the misdemeanor assault with a deadly weapon charge and a $1 million bond for the assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill inflicting serious injury charge. Overall, he’s being held without bond due to the murder charge.
Smith’s first court appearance is scheduled for Tuesday afternoon.
