Nizer Marquise Bennett, already convicted in the 2022 killing of a Fort Bragg paratrooper, was back in a Durham courtroom on Wednesday, April 29, 2026, as he began a plea process in a separate 2022 slaying. Court records show Bennett is facing murder and conspiracy charges in the death of 20-year-old Marcus Ortega-Burch, and the hearing has been continued to June 3.
Plea hearing under way
According to CBS17, a plea hearing for Bennett opened Wednesday in Durham County Superior Court after court filings formally linked him to the Ortega-Burch killing. The filings state that Durham police charged Bennett in 2023 while he was already being held in Cumberland County. Prosecutors and defense attorneys are scheduled to return to court June 3, with the documents listing murder and conspiracy to murder among the counts against him.
Two 2022 killings now linked in court
Bennett’s latest appearance in Durham stems from a separate case in which he was convicted in the…..