Man arrested for fatal Friday stabbing

UPDATE (1:15 p.m.): Chapel Hill police have released the name of the person who was fatally stabbed on Franklin Street on Friday night.

Walter Arthur Preston, 27, was stabbed in the chest. He was transported by ambulance to UNC Hospitals, where he later died. 

The investigation into the incident is ongoing, and police have asked anyone with more information to call the Chapel Hill Police Department at 919-968-2760.   

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A person has been arrested in connection with a fatal Friday night stabbing in downtown Chapel Hill.

Around 11:45 p.m., police responded to 209 E. Franklin St., near University Presbyterian Church and right across the street from McCorkle Place.

The male victim, whose identity the police had not yet released by late Sunday, had been stabbed in the chest. He was taken by ambulance to UNC Hospitals, where he later died.

According to an AlertCarolina message issued early on Saturday morning, the victim was not a student.

Witnesses told police the assailant had been wearing a blue windbreaker or hoodie, red shorts and a black do-rag. He was seen fleeing toward East Rosemary Street.

Early Saturday morning, police charged Charles Anthony Rhames, 25, with the crime and issued a warrant for his arrest.

Rhames was apprehended on Jones Ferry Road in Carrboro later that day.

He faces a charge of first degree murder and is being held at Orange County Jail under no bond. The Chapel Hill Police Department was not releasing any other information on the case until Monday morning, said Sgt. Gabriel Shinn.

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