Man Mangum Accused of Stabbing Dies

The man Crystal Mangum is accused of stabbing has died, Durham Police Department Chief Jose Lopez Sr. said Wednesday.

Mangum already was in jail under a $300,000 secured bond charged with assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill inflicting serious injury.

“More than likely, we will be upgrading the charge to murder,” Lopez said.

In 2006, Mangum, 32, falsely accused three Duke University lacrosse players of raping her.

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In December, Mangum was in Durham County Superior Court for an arson trial. Jurors found her guilty of three counts of contributing to the abuse and neglect of minors, causing more than $200 in property damage to the car of the man who was Mangum’s boyfriend and resisting a police officer. Those were misdemeanor charges. But jurors did not reach consensus on the major issue, the arson charge–a felony–so Superior Court Judge Abraham Jones declared a mistrial. Mangum was sentenced to time already served, 88 days. The Durham County District Attorney’s Office decided not to pursue the case further.

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