Arrest comes after Raleigh man found dead in burning car in Chapel Hill, police say

CHAPEL HILL, NC (WNCN) — Chapel Hill Police Department said Thursday they have arrested and charged a man with the murder of a Raleigh man who was found burned in a car last month.

Derek Tyrone Mack, 34, of Raleigh, was found in a car at Dickens Court around 4 p.m. on April 13, according to Chapel Hill officials.

A 9-year-old boy playing with friends at a playground across the street called the fire.

Using the boy’s directions, first responders found the burning car in Dickens Court at the Sagebrook Apartments.

Police said in a news release Thursday that Mack was murdered.

Gabriel Cortez Peele, 31, of Chapel Hill, is charged with first-degree murder, according to the press release.

Peele was already being held at the Wake County Detention Center on an unrelated charge, Chapel Hill Police said.

Peele is also charged with assault with a deadly weapon with intent to cause serious injury, armed robbery, criminal possession of a firearm and conspiracy to improperly dispose of a corpse.

Chapel Hill Police said the murder is still under investigation.