Skip to content
Triangle Local

Durham, Durham County

Durham: Woman charged after September crash that killed a boy on a bicycle

CBS 17, WRAL and the News & Observer, citing Durham police, say Kiara Perkins was charged Monday with misdemeanor death by motor vehicle and failure to reduce speed. The pages split on the boy's age.

UpdatedThis story has changed since it was first published.

By Alexandru Stanciu · Published

The downtown Durham skyline under an overcast sky

File photo: Discover Durham (CC BY 4.0), via Wikimedia Commons.

What we know

Confirmed

  • Durham police on Monday, Nov. 2, 2026, charged Kiara Perkins with misdemeanor death by motor vehicle and failure to reduce speed in a Sept. 13 crash at Knightwood Drive and Bengel Drive.Confirmed by Durham Police Department, as reported independently by CBS 17 (WordPress date 2026-11-02T16:53:50 ET), WRAL (page stamp 11/2/2026, 10:32:30 p.m., matching the 5:32 p.m. ET RSS time), and the News & Observer (Twumasi Duah-Mensah, 5:05 p.m. Nov. 2, 2026)
  • CBS 17 timed the wreck around 12:43 p.m. on Sept. 13. The Observer, citing a September department release, used the same clock. WRAL's Monday file omitted the hour.Confirmed by CBS 17; the News & Observer, citing a September Durham Police Department release. WRAL Monday file has no clock
  • WRAL and CBS 17 independently wrote that the driver was going north on Knightwood Drive. Both of those pages said the boy had just turned onto Knightwood from Bengel Drive.Confirmed by WRAL; CBS 17
  • CBS 17 wrote that the boy was then going south. The Observer, working from the September release, also put him southbound after that turn.Confirmed by CBS 17; the News & Observer, citing the September Durham Police Department release
  • The Observer, citing that September release, wrote that the boy was riding in the middle of the road. WRAL and CBS 17 did not print that line.Confirmed by the News & Observer only, citing the September Durham Police Department release
  • CBS 17 quoted the department, "The driver and the juvenile collided head-on a short distance after the juvenile entered the roadway on Knightwood Drive." WRAL independently described a head-on crash. The Observer used the same head-on wording.Confirmed by Durham Police Department, as quoted by CBS 17; WRAL; the News & Observer
  • CBS 17 and the Observer wrote that the boy was taken to a hospital and died there. WRAL wrote that he died from his injuries and did not mention a hospital.Confirmed by CBS 17; the News & Observer; WRAL for "died from his injuries"
  • WRAL's Monday file called him a 9-year-old and named him Keegan Brooks. CBS 17 also named Brooks and wrote that he was a fourth-grader at Oak Grove Elementary School, without printing an age on that charging page. The Observer did not name him.Confirmed by WRAL for 9-year-old and the name; CBS 17 for the name and Oak Grove; the News & Observer printed neither
  • The Observer, citing the department, called him a 12-year-old. WRAL and CBS 17 did not print 12 on Monday.Confirmed by the News & Observer only, citing the Durham Police Department
  • The Observer, again from the September release, identified the vehicle as a 2020 Hyundai Palisade and placed the wreck in east Durham. WRAL and CBS 17 omitted the model and that east-side label.Confirmed by the News & Observer only, citing the September Durham Police Department release
  • CBS 17 printed a tip line for Investigator D. Monroe at (919) 257-1189 and for Durham CrimeStoppers at (919) 683-1200 or durhamcrimestoppers.org. WRAL and the Observer did not print those numbers on Monday.Confirmed by CBS 17 only

Alleged or reported

  • Perkins is the driver who hit the boy and is guilty of misdemeanor death by motor vehicle and failure to reduce speed. A charge is an accusation. She is presumed innocent unless proven guilty in court.Durham Police Department, as reported independently by CBS 17, WRAL, and the News & Observer

Still unknown

  • A written Monday Durham Police Department news flash we can read ourselves
  • Perkins's age and hometown
  • Bond amount and a court date
  • How to settle the 9-versus-12 age split
  • Whether a helmet, speed, or sight lines were factors beyond the failure-to-reduce-speed charge

What this means for you

Public safety
A charge is an accusation. Perkins is presumed innocent unless proven guilty in court. This story is not an official or emergency notice. If someone is in immediate danger, call 911.

Instructions from Durham Police Department, as reported by CBS 17, WRAL, and the News & Observer

This site is not the Durham Police Department. For the case, use the department. This is not an emergency service. If anyone is in danger, call 911.

What happened

In Durham, a woman was charged Monday in a September crash that killed a boy on a bicycle, according to the Durham Police Department.

CBS 17, WRAL and the News & Observer each independently wrote that officers charged Kiara Perkins with misdemeanor death by motor vehicle and failure to reduce speed.

The wreck was on Sept. 13 at Knightwood Drive and Bengel Drive. CBS 17 timed it around 12:43 p.m. The Observer, citing a September department release, also printed 12:43 p.m. WRAL's Monday file omitted the hour.

WRAL and CBS 17 put the driver north on Knightwood Drive when the collision happened. Those two pages added that the boy had just turned onto Knightwood from Bengel Drive. CBS 17 then had him going south. The Observer, working from that September release, also put him southbound after that turn and had him riding in the middle of the road. WRAL and CBS 17 did not print that middle-of-the-road line.

CBS 17 quoted the department: "The driver and the juvenile collided head-on a short distance after the juvenile entered the roadway on Knightwood Drive." WRAL independently described a head-on crash. The Observer also called it a head-on wreck.

CBS 17 and the Observer wrote that the boy was taken to a hospital and died there. WRAL's account is that he died from his injuries, with no hospital named.

WRAL's Monday file called him a 9-year-old and named him Keegan Brooks. CBS 17 also named Brooks and identified him as a fourth-grader at Oak Grove Elementary School, without printing an age on that charging page. The Observer did not name him and, citing the department, called him a 12-year-old.

The Observer, returning to the September release, identified the vehicle as a 2020 Hyundai Palisade and placed the wreck in east Durham. WRAL and CBS 17 omitted the model and that east-side label.

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

CBS 17 printed a tip line for Investigator D. Monroe and for Durham CrimeStoppers. The other two pages did not.

This site is not the Durham Police Department. If anyone is in danger, call 911.

Related coverage

What we don't know yet

We have not opened a written Monday department release of our own. None of the three pages printed Perkins's age, hometown, bond, or a court date. We cannot settle the 9-versus-12 split from these files.

What happens next

We will update this story if a charging document, a bond, or a written department release appears.

Photos

Text-only. No station or family photographs are used here.

Why it matters

Neighbors at Knightwood and Bengel now have a named driver and two charges, and they still need each newsroom's own read of the child's age, name, and the September vehicle description kept apart.

Updates

  1. Nov 2, 2026, 6:18 PM

    CBS 17, WRAL and the News & Observer, each citing Durham police, report that Kiara Perkins was charged Monday with misdemeanor death by motor vehicle and failure to reduce speed after the Sept. 13 crash at Knightwood Drive and Bengel Drive. WRAL calls the child a 9-year-old named Keegan Brooks. The Observer, citing the department, calls him a 12-year-old and does not name him.

Sources

  1. Woman charged in death of boy killed while riding bicycle in September, Durham police say (CBS 17 / WNCN, WordPress date 2026-11-02T16:53:50 ET, modified 16:53:51: Sept. 13 around 12:43 p.m., Knightwood Drive and Bengel Drive; woman driving north, boy going south after turning from Bengel; department quoted, 'The driver and the juvenile collided head-on a short distance after the juvenile entered the roadway on Knightwood Drive.'; boy taken to a hospital and pronounced dead; later identified as Keegan Brooks, a fourth-grader at Oak Grove Elementary School; Monday, Kiara Perkins charged with misdemeanor death by motor vehicle and failure to reduce speed; Investigator D. Monroe (919) 257-1189; Durham CrimeStoppers (919) 683-1200 or durhamcrimestoppers.org. Did not print 9, 12, Palisade, or east Durham. Read via the station's public WordPress JSON because the HTML page returned 403 here. Courtney Brooks family photograph is not used. Text-only.)

    Official sourcePublished by Durham Police Department, via CBS 17 · Checked Nov 2, 2026, 6:20 PM

  2. Woman charged in September crash that killed 9-year-old boy riding bike in Durham (WRAL staff, page stamp Posted 11/2/2026, 10:32:30 p.m., matching the 5:32 p.m. ET RSS time: Durham police Monday charged Kiara Perkins with misdemeanor death by motor vehicle and failure to reduce speed; Sept. 13, Knightwood Drive and Bengel Drive; Perkins driving north on Knightwood Drive; hit a 9-year-old boy riding his bicycle head-on; boy later identified as Keegan Brooks, had just turned onto Knightwood Drive from Bengel Drive; Brooks died from his injuries. Did not print 12:43 p.m., southbound, hospital, Oak Grove, Palisade, middle of the road, or east Durham. Text-only; no WRAL photographs used.)

    Official sourcePublished by Durham Police Department, via WRAL · Checked Nov 2, 2026, 6:20 PM

  3. Durham woman charged nearly two months after hitting, killing child on a bike (Twumasi Duah-Mensah, The News & Observer, 5:05 p.m. Nov. 2, 2026; same McClatchy file on the Herald-Sun: Durham Police Department afternoon statement; Kiara Perkins charged Monday with misdemeanor death by motor vehicle and failure to reduce speed; September release, 2020 Hyundai Palisade on Knightwood Drive, Sept. 13 around 12:43 p.m.; 12-year-old boy riding in the middle of the road turned from Bengel Drive to head south on Knightwood Drive; head-on collision soon after; boy taken to the hospital where he died; east Durham. Did not name the boy, print 9, Oak Grove, or a northbound line for Perkins. File photo not used. Text-only. The Herald-Sun copy is the same article and is not a second source.)

    Official sourcePublished by Durham Police Department, via The News & Observer · Checked Nov 2, 2026, 6:20 PM

More from Durham County

Durham County news

Related stories