William Craig Durham
Deputies responding to a report of a shooting near the end of Montieth Acres Road found William Craig Durham, 56, of Roaring River, at the scene, said Bishop, sharing details in a probable cause affidavit included in the application.
Durham told deputies on the scene that he shot Reynolds, 35, of Old 60, Roaring River, stated Bishop in the affidavit.
Reynolds was deceased from an apparent gunshot wound to the chest when deputies found her in the driver’s seat of a Nissan Altima at the scene, he added.
A magistrate’s order said Durham is charged with first-degree murder. It also said he is charged with first-degree kidnapping for unlawfully restraining Reynolds and removing her from one place to another without her consent.
Bishop said Bruce Benjamin Baldwin of Old 60, Roaring River, also located by deputies when they arrived at the fatal shooting scene, told him in an interview that Durham picked him up at his home earlier on June 26 while driving the Nissan Altima and they went to Hays after Durham said he wished to talk to Reynolds.
Bishop said Baldwin told him that after Durham found Reynolds while she was delivering mail, “multiple occurrences of vehicle-on-vehicle force took place between Durham’s vehicle and Reynolds’ vehicle (Hyundai Santa Fe) prior to the shooting.”
He added, “Baldwin advised that he jumped out of Durham’s vehicle at the top of Monteith Acres Road,” a dead end road off Yellow Banks Road.
The Nissan Altima and the Hyundai Santa Fe both had heavy body damage when deputies found them at the fatal shooting scene. They were sealed and towed away to a secure lot at the Wilkes County Garage in Wilkesboro for examination later.
Bishop said in the affidavit that through interviews with Durham, he learned that Durham and Reynolds “were in a dating type relationship… with Durham moving his camper onto Reynolds’ property for a time.”
He said Durham told him that on June 26 he wanted to ask Reynolds where she was on the night of June 25 because she didn’t return to her home then. Durham also said vehicle-on-vehicle contact between his car and Reynolds’ car occurred multiple times , he added.
Bishop said that because Reynolds’ sister said Reynolds told her she believed Durham had access to her home on Old 60, he “believes evidence may be located in Reynolds’ residence related to the ongoing domestic violence being carried out by Durham.” He added that the sister said Reynolds may have had cameras on her residence.
Bishop indicated in his affidavit that he was seeking a search warrant to search the two vehicles, two iPhones found in the Hyundai that are believed to have belonged to Reynolds, a camper that Durham sometimes stayed in and a storage building. The sheriff’s office listed Durham’s address as Boss Blackburn Road, Roaring River.
Bishop stated that another source said Reynolds told her Durham stole firearms from her home in the past. Bishop said this source told her Reynolds said on June 25 “that Durham had once again taken her firearms because he was worried that Reynolds would shoot him.”
Search warrants were issued on June 30 and the search warrant paperwork was filed in the Wilkes Clerk of Superior Court’s office on July 6.
In a bond hearing before Chief District Court Judge Robert J. Crumpton on June 29, family members of Reynolds voiced concern about the safety of Reynolds two children if Durham is freed on bond. Brent Reynolds, father of the two children and Brandi Reynolds’ husband, died in December 2025.
A family member said during the bond hearing that Durham had threatened Reynolds and had broken into her home.
Crumpton ordered that Durham remain in the Wilkes County Jail without bond.
Emergency personnel were dispatched to 304 Montieth Acres Road in Hays in response to a call about a man shooting a woman while she was in a vehicle about 4:15 p.m. June 26.
Information received by the Wilkes Communications Center was that a white male in a gray Nissan Altima fired one round and was pulling a gun on a woman.
Jessica Adams, a U.S. postal inspector based in Charlotte, confirmed by email that Reynolds was on her postal route when she was fatally shot.
Durham has prior convictions of possession of a firearm by a felon, obtaining property by false pretense, habitual misdemeanor assault and other offenses. Restraining orders were taken out on him twice in 2024 and once in 2010 by female victims other than Reynolds.