The man accused of killing an Apex teacher and basketball coach made his first court appearance Friday in Wake County, where a judge denied him bond.
Rickey Harper, 60, is charged with first-degree murder in the death of his girlfriend, 57-year-old Sheremy Dillard, according to Raleigh police.
Other WRAL Top Stories
Dillard was a basketball coach at Felton Grove High School in Apex. She was found dead Aug. 13 with multiple stab wounds inside her Raleigh home on Whistling Straits Way.
Court documents show Harper was booked into the Wake County Detention Center on Thursday afternoon after being extradited from Pennsylvania.
Harper was arrested there on Aug. 14 after Raleigh police notified the Plymouth Township Police Department that he might be in the area. He was taken into custody and held at the Montgomery County Correctional Facility after a standoff with detectives.
As Harper appeared in court Friday, Dillard’s family and friends gathered in Durham for her viewing.
“It leaves a hole that just can’t be filled, and she’s going to be dearly missed,” said Beverly Rudolph, Dillard’s former principal when she coached and taught in Carrboro.
“She was a very kind but fierce person. What she was fierce about was her beliefs, her faith. She had really strong faith, and she had a fierce belief in her students, particularly her basketball players,” Rudolph said.
A celebration of life for Dillard will be held Saturday at Hillside High School. She was an alumna of Hillside and North Carolina Central University.