Plymouth Township, Pennsylvania, police provided details the manhunt and arrest of a Raleigh man Rickey Harper, who is accused of fatally stabbing his live-in girlfriend, teacher and Felton Grove High School girls basketball coach, Sheremy Gwenette Dillard.
According to a statement released by Plymouth Township police on August 14th, Harper became confrontational with detectives before his arrest. Police said he refused to surrender or show his hands and kept his right hand in his pocket. The 60-year-old allegedly yelled at officers and encouraged them to shoot him.
Harper and detectives moved through the parking lot before he fled on foot. Police said he was eventually captured after attempting to return to his van.
Plymouth Township police said they were alerted by Raleigh police on August 14th that Harper could be in the area. Authorities later located him near the Courtyard Marriott Hotel, while his vehicle was found at Plymouth Meeting Mall.
Harper was arrested and charged with first-degree murder one day after Dillard was found stabbed to death inside their Raleigh residence. He remains held without bond at the Montgomery County Correctional Facility in Eagleville, Pennsylvania, as he awaits extradition to North Carolina.
According to Raleigh police, family members contacted authorities after they had not heard from Dillard and provided officers with information about where she lived. Officers conducted a wellness check and found the 57-year-old deceased inside the residence with injuries consistent with a stabbing.
Raleigh police Lt. David Davis said Harper, who was Dillard’s live-in boyfriend, was not at the residence when officers arrived.
Dillard’s funeral will be held on August 29 at 1 p.m. at Durham’s Hillside High School, where she once played basketball for the Hornets. Her viewing is scheduled for August 28 from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and August 29 from 9 a.m. to noon at Fisher Memorial Funeral Parlor in Durham, N.C.
