By the time officers reached the small house on Worth Street in Durham, two women had already been shot. One would not survive. Within an hour, the man police say pulled the trigger was bleeding from self-inflicted stab wounds at a different address, telling officers he had just shot someone in the face.
Prosecutors now say that the trail of violence began with an argument over whether a relationship would be exclusive. The victim, 30-year-old Duke University graduate student Angela Marina Risi, was shot multiple times inside her home in October 2023. In early 2026, her boyfriend, 32-year-old Stephon Dubose, admitted in court that he killed her and tried to kill her roommate.
The Plea: Second-Degree Murder and Attempted Murder
According to a plea agreement described by Law&Crime, Dubose pleaded guilty in Durham to second-degree murder in Risi’s death and attempted murder for shooting her roommate. The deal calls for a prison term between 35 and 44 years.
A man has pleaded guilty to murder and attempted murder after fatally shooting a woman and injuring her roommate.
He allegedly killed the woman because she “refused to be in an exclusive relationship with him.”https://t.co/WOrq477gdz pic.twitter.com/U9ROA4mirq
— Local 12/WKRC-TV (@Local12) February 2, 2026
Second-degree murder in North Carolina typically involves an intentional killing without premeditation. By entering a guilty plea, Dubose avoided a trial and removed any dispute about whether he was the person who fired the shots. What remains unresolved is how the court will weigh the details of the crime at sentencing, which has not yet been scheduled.
An Argument Over Exclusivity
Risi’s father, Matteo Risi, told NBC affiliate WRAL that shortly before the shooting, his daughter and Dubose argued inside Dubose’s car about the future of their relationship. According to his account, Dubose wanted an exclusive relationship, and Angela did not. She left the car and went back into her home on Worth Street.
In that same interview, Risi’s father described what he says happened next inside the house. He said, “He broke in, then chased her to the back of the house … fired 11 rounds, shot her eight times, with a 9-millimeter handgun. And then, even more amazingly, he burst into the bedroom of Angela’s roommate and shot her three times. She survived but is permanently disabled.” Those details have not been publicly contradicted by law enforcement and align with the injuries described by prosecutors and in court filings reported by Law&Crime.
Inside the Worth Street House
Police records cited by Law&Crime state that officers were dispatched to the 1000 block of Worth Street shortly after 7 a.m. in early October 2023 for reports of a shooting. Responding officers found Risi suffering from multiple gunshot wounds. In a bedroom, they discovered her roommate, also shot several times.
Both women were taken to a hospital. Doctors pronounced Risi dead. Her roommate survived but, according to Risi’s father, now lives with permanent disabilities from the shooting.
At the scene, the surviving roommate identified the shooter to officers as a man known as “Jimmy.” Investigators later said that Dubose goes by that nickname, a detail reported by Law&Crime. That account helped connect the attack on Worth Street to a second emergency call less than an hour later.
A Second Scene and a Recorded Admission
Roughly thirty minutes after the Worth Street shooting, Durham officers responded to a separate call on Tranquil Road, again described in reporting by Law&Crime. This time, the 911 call involved a stabbing.
According to an affidavit for a search warrant quoted by Law&Crime, Dubose had arrived at a family residence on Tranquil Road and began stabbing himself. Family members called 911. Officers disarmed him and took him into custody.
During that encounter, Dubose made an incriminating statement, according to the same affidavit. He told officers he had just “shot a female in the face and wasn’t going back to prison and couldn’t live anymore.” That statement, combined with the surviving roommate’s identification of “Jimmy” as the shooter, formed a significant part of the evidence against him, along with forensic work that has not been fully detailed in public reporting.
Who Angela Marina Risi Was
Risi was in her second year of graduate study in Duke University’s dance program at the time of her death. In a statement provided to ABC affiliate WTVD, Duke said, “The Duke community joins in their shock and sadness at this tragic loss” and confirmed that Risi was enrolled in the dance program when she was killed.
Her obituary, hosted on Legacy.com and linked by WRAL, notes that Risi grew up in California and developed a passion for dance early in life. “She started young with ballet, modern, jazz, and tap dance,” the obituary states.
Her father told WRAL that his daughter was a “really wonderful person.” He said, “Very bright, very smart, always fun,” and recalled that “At her celebration of life, there were well over 200 people who attended and many more who wanted to come as well.” Those comments speak to the network of classmates, friends, and colleagues at Duke and beyond who were affected by her death.
City council member Dedreana Freeman, who lived next door to the Worth Street home, told WTVD that the couple had been arguing in the days before the shooting. According to the station’s report, Freeman said, “No one deserves to be killed for differences like that. They had an argument Friday. Things got loud and everybody could hear it. Whatever it was on Monday for you to come back and shoot, shouldn’t have happened.”
What the Guilty Plea Resolves, and What It Does Not
With Dubose’s plea to second-degree murder and attempted murder, several key facts are no longer contested. He has acknowledged in court that he killed Risi and shot her roommate in Durham in October 2023. He has accepted a sentencing range that will likely keep him in prison for decades, according to the plea terms reported by Law&Crime.
The plea also means there will be no public trial that might have produced more detailed evidence about his prior history, any earlier incidents between him and Risi, or additional investigative records. Apart from statements by Risi’s father and neighbors, few of those details are currently available in public reporting.
A sentencing date has not yet been set, Law&Crime reported. When that hearing occurs, a judge will decide how much of the 35 to 44 year range to impose. For Risi’s family, her surviving roommate, and the Durham community, that decision will close the legal case against Dubose. It will not answer every question about how a dispute over exclusivity in a relationship escalated into an 11-shot attack inside a small house on Worth Street.
