Ex-Duke football player confesses to killing Charlotte real estate agent: police

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – A former Duke University football player has allegedly confessed to killing his former high school friend and Charlotte, North Carolina, real estate agent Whitney Hurd, according to a police affidavit.

Police found Hurd, 32, dead with multiple stab wounds in her townhome in Charlotte’s upscale South Park neighborhood on July 14 of last year while responding to a call for medical assistance that afternoon. Her manner of death was ruled a homicide.

On March 3 of this year, Brandon Braxton, 33, allegedly submitted a written grievance to Mecklenburg County jail officials, stating: “I killed Whitney Hurd,” the affidavit states.

When authorities discovered Hurd last July, they noticed that her vehicle and phone were missing.

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Hurd’s neighbor apparently saw a man driving her white BMW away from her home on the afternoon of July 4, 2024, and there was nobody in the passenger seat. The neighbor advised police that Hurd never let anyone else drive her vehicle.

The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department (CMPD) obtained a search warrant for Hurd’s phone and received her last known location data, which led detectives to her vehicle, which was collected and processed as evidence. Detectives were unable to locate her phone, but the case was still inside the vehicle.

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Fingerprints from Hurd’s vehicle were collected and processed, placing Braxton inside her vehicle and residence.

Hurd’s friends and family told police that she and Braxton used to be friends at Providence High School but they “lost touch for many years.” Recently, Braxton apparently began showing up at Hurd’s residence, they said.

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Braxton was a wide receiver for Duke between 2010 and 2013, according to the Duke Athletics website.

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In one incident, Braxton apparently fell asleep in Hurd’s driveway, intoxicated, when she refused to let him inside. Hurd also called police and told her family and friends when Braxton previously tried to break into her residence. 

In July 2024, Braxton was arrested and charged in connection with larceny of a motor vehicle in Pineville, a town neighboring Charlotte. Court records show that Braxton was arrested and released four times before he was eventually charged with murder on March 20.

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On Aug. 8 of last year, detectives “signed Braxton out of jail” and interviewed him. 

“He stated the last time her saw Whitney, ‘she looked petrified.'”

— CMPD affidavit

“Braxton stated he and Whitney used to hang out in high school. He stated he had never been inside her vehicle but had been inside her residence. He nodded his head up and down in the affirmative when asked if he knew what happened to Whitney and where she currently was but would not provide further details. He stated the last time her saw Whitney, ‘she looked petrified,’” the affidavit states.

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In January, Braxton was again arrested in Pineville on charges of trespassing and resisting a police officer. The Mecklenburg County Sheriff’s Office took him into custody.

Following his confession on March 3, detectives “reviewed video surveillance provided by the jail which showed Braxton using the kiosk in the jail on 03/03/2025 at 0854 hours, the same date and time when the grievance was filed.”

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Charlotte officials have since charged Braxton with first-degree murder and robbery on March 20. Fox News Digital reached out to his attorney.

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Hurd was a real estate agent and a beloved daughter, sister, aunt and friend, according to her obituary. “Her smile and laugh were infectious and you just couldn’t help to be drawn to her,” the obituary states.