Franklinton: Devon Whaley charged with first-degree murder in Rasheka Crudup's death

A Franklinton man is charged with first-degree murder in the death of Rasheka Crudup, according to arrest warrants reported by WRAL.

Devon Whaley, 35, is accused of killing Crudup at a home on Lane Store Road in Franklinton. Whaley was booked into custody Monday, WRAL and The NC Beat reported. Officials have not released when or how Crudup was killed, or a possible motive.

A charge is an accusation. Whaley is presumed innocent unless proven guilty in court.

Background

In a Facebook post quoted by WRAL and The NC Beat, Franklin County Sheriff Kevin White called Crudup "a mother of two beautiful children, a caregiver, a teacher" and a deeply cherished friend to many in the community. "'I'm sorry,' simply isn't good enough," White wrote, according to those outlets.

Crudup was a teacher at Kiddie Academy in Wake Forest, according to a tribute post cited by WRAL. That detail is attributed to the tribute, not to the sheriff.

This case is reported separately from other recent Franklinton homicide coverage. Sources reviewed for this draft do not link the cases.

What warrants and court records say about Whaley

Arrest warrants accuse Whaley of killing Crudup, WRAL reported. WCTI12, citing a warrant, also reported the first-degree murder charge and said the warrant accused Whaley of breaking into a building on Lane Store Road with intent to terrorize or injure her. That breaking-and-entering language was not in the WRAL story text we re-fetched; we are presenting it as reported by WCTI12 only.

WRAL, citing court records, reported that Whaley was taken into custody in 2016 when he was accused of shooting a woman and taking his 1-year-old daughter; that he pleaded guilty in 2017 to assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill inflicting serious injury; that he was released from prison in 2024; and that he has pending domestic violence and assault on a female charges from January 2026.

The NC Beat and WCTI12 reported that Sheriff White described a broader prior history including drugs, kidnapping, assault and attempted murder. That characterization is attributed to the sheriff as reported by those outlets. For the 2016–2017 history, Triangle Local relies on WRAL's specific court-record summary above.

Timeline

• 2016: Whaley taken into custody in the shooting case described above, WRAL reported.
• 2017: Pleads guilty in that case, court records via WRAL.
• 2024: Released from prison, WRAL reported.
• January 2026: New charges, still pending, WRAL reported.
• Monday (week of Oct. 12–13, 2026): Booked into custody in Crudup's death, WRAL and The NC Beat reported.
• Oct. 14–15, 2026: WRAL, The NC Beat and WCTI12 report the first-degree murder charge and the sheriff's statements.

What we don't know yet

The Franklin County Sheriff's Office still has not said when or how Crudup died, and it has not publicly stated a motive. A direct, archived copy of White's Facebook post was not retrieved for this draft (platform login wall); quotes are taken from outlet reporting.

Photos

Text-only. Images of Whaley have circulated via news outlets without a clear agency-released file on disk we can use under Triangle Local rules. No house number is published.