Chatham County, North Carolina Man Mistakenly Arrested at Funeral for 1995 Murder Suspect

Chatham County, North Carolina Man Mistakenly Arrested at Funeral for 1995 Murder Suspect

CHATHAM COUNTY, NORTH CAROLINA — A man attending his brother’s funeral was mistakenly arrested in Chatham County after law enforcement wrongly identified him as a fugitive wanted for a 1995 murder.

According to the Lee County Sheriff’s Office, investigators believed Willard Smith, a suspect who has allegedly used aliases for decades, might attend the funeral of Kabem Seagal Smith at Liberty Chapel Church. Authorities noted that one of the known aliases—Willard Partridge—was listed in the obituary as Kabem’s surviving brother.

On the day of the funeral, officers waited in the church parking lot and began searching the crowd after the service. A man they believed to be Willard Smith was taken into custody in what witnesses described as a chaotic and emotional scene. Family members reportedly gathered around police vehicles, with some allegedly attempting to prevent officers from leaving by banging on and rocking the patrol cars.

The man was later confirmed to be innocent and unrelated to the decades-old homicide investigation.

The sheriff’s office has come under scrutiny following the incident, with community members and family expressing outrage over the disruption and mistaken arrest during a moment of mourning.