Police arrest Chapel Hill man after investigating dead body found in a burning car
A 31-year-old man was charged Thursday with the death of a Raleigh man found last month in a burning car outside a Chapel Hill apartment building.
Chapel Hill police charged Gabriel Cortez Peele, of Chapel Hill, with first-degree murder, according to a town news release.
Peele is accused in the death of Derek Tyrone Mack, 34, who was found around 4 p.m. April 13 inside a burning car in front of the Sagebrook Apartments on Dickens Court. The complex is off Sage Road in northeastern Chapel Hill.
An investigation revealed that Mack had been murdered, and details of the case led police to Peele, who was being held in Wake County on a failure to appear charge stemming from a 2021 charge of driving while license revoked in Lee County.
Raleigh police arrested Lee on April 23, court records show.
Police also charged Peele with assault with a deadly weapon with the intent to kill inflicting serious injury, possession of a stolen firearm, two counts of possession of a firearm by a felon, armed robbery, and conspiring to improperly dispose of a body, court records showed.
He is being held without bond in the Wake County Detention Center on unrelated charges, police said.
On April 13, a 9-year-old boy and an adult, who were at a nearby playground, called 911 after hearing a “big pop,” according to an emergency call released by police. An adult who took the phone from the boy, said they didn’t think anyone was hurt.
“We got up to see where the sound is coming from, and it’s a car on fire,” the adult said. “It’s so weird. It just made a great big pop sound, and then it just started burning it faster. We’re just in our playground and the smoke is getting real cloudy and now it’s turning brown.”
Police are continuing to investigate, the release stated.
Anyone with information about the fire or Mack can call 911 or the Chapel Hill Police Department at 919-968-2760 from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday.
Callers who want to remain anonymous can call Chapel Hill-Carrboro-UNC Crimestoppers line at 919-942-7515.
