A North Carolina inmate said to be the state’s highest-ranking Blood gang member has been accused of impregnating two former jail employees.
Darrius Tyson is accused of murdering a man who disappeared in 2022. He’s currently being held in Central Prison in Raleigh. During a hearing on Tuesday, prosecutors claimed Tyson used his position to get drugs and sex inside a Durham facility. One of his nicknames is listed as “King Blood” on the county’s website.
Durham County Assistant District Attorney Mary Jude Darrow also accused him of impregnating Lerin Burnette, a contracted nurse, and a detention sergeant named Jade Robertson. The two women were charged with having sexual relations with an inmate, a felony crime.
The revelation came during the hearing as Tyson was seeking to have his $1.25m bond reduced. A judge declined the request, according to WRAL.
Daniel Meier, Tyson’s attorney, argued that his client was a victim in the matter during the hearing.
“He was sexually assaulted by two employees who have been charged with felonies,” he told a judge on Tuesday. “It’s a Class E felony for someone to have sexual relations with a detainee. A detainee by law cannot consent. He is a victim in those cases.”
Following the sex allegations, Tyson was transferred from the Durham County Detention Center to the Raleigh prison. He’s been charged with murder, conspiracy to commit murder, kidnapping and burglary. He previously served time for murder in 2010 but the conviction was overturned in 2020 due to prosecutorial misconduct.
The prosecutors did not turn over exculpatory evidence, the outlet reported.
The man’s mother, Murryette Tyson, told WRAL county officials are “out for [her son].” She declined to comment on her son’s ties to the gang or the allegations he had sex with the workers.
“He’s innocent,” she told WRAL. “Of all the charges.” She claims her son was assaulted by detention officers in August and that the incident caused him to suffer injuries to his jaw.
When the outlet inquired about the allegation, a spokesperson for the jail said no assault had been reported at the time and they would not be able to investigate a claim based on the details given.
