Tanesha Jeffries, former teaching assistant for Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools, was arrested and charged with first-degree murder and robbery on Friday, April 20.
Jeffries was one of four people arrested as part of an armed robbery of the Alamance County sweepstakes parlor, which occurred on April 8. Jeffries has been charged with the murder of a security guard, Michael Thomas Le, 25, during the robbery.
In a message sent to CHCCS parents on the day of the arrest, CHCCS Superintendent Pamela Baldwin expressed surprise at the news and said the district will do everything it can to support Northside students and faculty according to reporting done by Chapelboro.
“We recognize this is very troubling, but know that we will lock arms and take care of our Northside students and staff members … and together we will work through this,” Baldwin said.
CHCCS Spokesperson Jeff Nash said Jeffries, 23, was a pre-kindergarten teaching assistant at Northside Elementary School and started work in September of the current school year.
“I think we either got a call from the Burlington Police or we saw it when they sent out a press release, but the message nevertheless came from the Burlington Police Department the day of the arrest,” Nash said.
Nash said the school district stayed uninvolved from the police investigation because the incident was not related to school aside from the fact that Jeffries was a district employee. Once they received the news, Nash said Jeffries’ employment with the district was terminated.
Following Jeffries’ arrest on Friday, Burlington police Capt. Bret Currie said Jeffries had her first court appearance in court on Monday, April 23.
Currie said the timeline for what comes next is still tentative.
