(Tribune News Service) — A Cumberland County jury is now deliberating in the case of a man charged with stabbing his neighbor to death after a weeks-long feud ended in a bloody brawl.

Zachary T. Latham, 20, is charged with second-degree reckless manslaughter in the May 4, 2020, killing of William T. Durham Sr., 51, a state corrections officer.

Latham and the Durham family originally clashed after a dispute escalated over his alleged speeding on the street they shared in a Vineland neighborhood. Latham mocked the family in posts on TikTok and Durham’s wife told police their neighbor was harassing them.

In closing arguments on Wednesday, Latham’s public defenders maintained their client acted in self-defense and feared for the safety of himself, his family and friends after the Durhams arrived at his property before the fatal encounter.

Prosecution countered that the defendant used unreasonable, deadly force and could have retreated into his home and called police when the Durhams confronted him.

Representatives for the Durham family previously claimed Latham lured the victim into the fatal fight in a bid for “TikTok fame.”

On Tuesday, the jury was shown video of an interview investigators conducted with Latham a day after the killing, in which he offered conflicting accounts of what happened a day earlier and appeared shocked after learning Durham died of his injuries.

Trouble between the families began about six weeks before the killing when Durham’s wife, Catherine, told Latham to slow down as he drove on Thornhill Road, the street where they both lived, prosecutors previously stated.

Latham recorded video of the interaction on his cellphone and posted it to his TikTok account, dubbing Catherine Durham a “Karen.” The defendant posted additional videos of interactions with the family and his social media followers joined in ridiculing the family.

Catherine Durham contacted Vineland police April 25, 2020, to report that Latham had “harassed her on several occasions,” according to a department report.

Under a pre-trial ruling, attorneys were barred from telling the jury about interactions between Latham and the Durhams prior to the day of the killing.

The feud boiled over on May 4, 2020, after the Durhams claimed Latham drove up behind 17-year-old-old Gage Durham as he rode out of his driveway on his bike and swerved his vehicle toward the cyclist. Gage Durham testified that he jumped onto the curb to avoid Latham’s vehicle.

Hours later, the Durhams confronted Latham as he drove home. During that encounter, which was captured on videos recorded by Catherine Durham and Latham’s wife, Sarah, the defendant denied swerving toward the younger Durham.

Latham then told Catherine Durham, “Get out of my face,” and swatted at her phone, allegedly making contact with the woman, according to prosecutors, and continued driving to his house, about 500 feet away.

The Durhams followed Latham to his home.

Another video taken by Sarah Latham and played several times during the trial showed sons William T. Durham Jr. and Gage Durham pull up to the Latham house on their bikes and their father arrive in his pickup truck. All three, who were unarmed, walked up the driveway to confront Latham, who had armed himself with a knife and stun gun.

What followed was a bloody battle between the Durhams, Latham and two of his friends that ended with the elder Durham fatally wounded.

He was stabbed in the back and left underarm, and the underarm wound punctured a lung, prosecutors said. He was taken to a hospital where he later died.

Latham suffered a concussion in the brawl and was hospitalized before being interviewed by investigators the following day. Still dressed in hospital garb, the video presented for the jury showed Latham describe how the fight played out, offering details that the prosecution challenged as false claims intended to justify the defendant’s actions.

After a lengthy interview, a detective informed Latham that he’d been charged with manslaughter and he appeared shocked to learn Durham Sr. was dead.

“No,” Latham said multiple times, as he breathed heavily and began sobbing. The video was aired on Court TV, which is covering the trial.

When briefly left alone in the interview room, Latham paced back and forth — despite claiming he suffered a sprained ankle during the brawl — periodically banging his hands on the walls as he processed the news that he was accused of killing someone.

In closing arguments, defense attorney Christine Long said the Durhams behaved as if they were “above the law” when they confronted Latham.

“He was not the aggressor here. The Durhams clearly were,” she said, replaying videos of the two encounters between the families on May 4, 2020. She told jurors that no video had been presented showing her client allegedly swerving his vehicle toward Gage Durham that day because, Long argued, the incident never happened.

Long also told the jury that Latham was within his legal rights to arm and defend himself on his property.

The Durhams stomped and kicked Latham during the fight and Durham Sr.’s death, while a tragedy, did not justify their behavior, the defense attorney stated.

In his closing statements, Assistant Prosecutor Charles Wettstein suggested Latham’s attitude was defiant and arrogant on the day of the killing, not fearful as he claimed.

Latham was deceptive in his comments to investigators, repeatedly claiming falsely that part of the incident occurred in his kitchen, Wettstein said. Latham also lied in a call to 911 in which he claimed 10 people had come onto his property with guns, the prosecutor said, and lied again when he claimed the Durhams threatened to kill him.

He told those lies in an attempt to justify his unreasonable use of deadly force, Wettstein told the jury.

Wettstein reminded jurors that Latham served in the New Jersey Army National Guard and was trained in hand-to-hand combat. Rather than a scared young man trying desperately to protect himself, “he knew exactly where to strike and how to inflict the injury,” Wettstein said.

Catherine Durham and her sons testified in the trial, but Latham did not. The defense called no witnesses.

In addition to manslaughter, Latham was charged with aggravated assault and weapons offenses, while the Durham sons and their mother were charged with assault and trespassing.

Durham Jr. was admitted to the pre-trial intervention program and charges against Catherine Durham were dismissed. The outcome of the charges against Gage Durham, who was a juvenile at the time, were not disclosed.

Latham was released from jail to await trial after he was originally charged in 2020 and relocated to Florida, where he was arrested after allegedly threatening someone there with a pellet gun.

His release in the Durham case was later revoked and he was returned to New Jersey to await trial.

Jurors began deliberations late Wednesday afternoon and are scheduled to resume Thursday morning.

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