Videos show neighborhood dispute ending in bloody brawl where corrections officer was killed

Within minutes, a dispute between neighbors on a Vineland street spiraled from a verbal argument into a blood-soaked brawl.

Videos shown to New Jersey Advance Media chronicle an alarming escalation that ended in the stabbing death of off-duty corrections officer William T. “Timmy” Durham Sr., 51, on May 4.

An attorney for Zachary T. Latham, 18, the man charged with killing Durham, said his client acted in self-defense when Durham and his sons came onto his property after a long-running feud between the families.

Trouble began when Durham’s wife, Catherine, told Latham to slow down when he allegedly sped down Thornhill Road, the street where they both live, weeks earlier. Latham recorded that encounter with Catherine Durham and posted it to social media as the start of what the family described as a weeks-long effort to harass the Durhams.

The dispute exploded on May 4 when Catherine Durham accused Latham of swerving toward her 17-year-old son as he rode his bike on the street. Cellphone video captured what happened next.

Nose to nose on Thornhill

As Latham tried to return to his home later that day with his wife, Sarah, and two others in his pickup truck, Durham Sr. pulled his pickup out of his own driveway to block Latham’s path.

With the vehicles sitting nose to nose, Catherine Durham approaches Latham’s truck with her cellphone recording the encounter.

She asks why he swerved at her son and tried to hit him.

“When?” he says.

“You don’t remember? Today when he was riding his bike and you swerved and pushed him against the curb.”

Latham denies it, but then admits honking at him. Durham Sr. was still in his truck as Catherine grows angrier.

“It’s on video, so get your sh-- straight, you little punk---,” she says, continuing to record Latham as she stands next to his driver’s window.

Sarah Latham is recording, too.

“Get out of my face,” Zachary Latham says, as he swats at Durham and the phone, making physical contact.

“Did you hit me?” Durham hollers. “Did you hit me?

Latham then drives off toward his home, located about 500 feet away.

In a video shot by his wife as they head home, he tells her to contact police. It’s not clear if that call was made.

Showdown at Latham home

Moments later, they are back at their home and Sarah Latham is recording again from the driveway as the Durhams’ sons, the 17-year-old and 22-year-old William Durham Jr., pull up on their bikes. Latham had already gone inside the home to retrieve a knife and stun gun, as previously explained by investigators.

“I promise you, you better back up, ‘cause you’re not gonna like what’s coming out,” Sarah Latham tells the Durhams.

One of the sons asks if Latham is going to pull a gun on them.

“No,” she responds.

“Yeah he is,” the son says.

“No,” she says again.

Then Durham Sr. pulls up in his truck

“He’s gonna pull his gun on us,” the son tells his dad as Durham exits his vehicle.

“Get the gun,” Durham Sr. says. That remark could be taken multiple ways, but it seems to be a challenge to the Lathams, since prosecutors said the Durhams were unarmed during the incident.

“Back up,” Sarah Latham responds.

“Get the f------ gun,” Durham says again as he walks across the yard.

“Babe,” Latham calls to her husband.

“Get off of our property,” she tells them.

Zachary Latham approaches and tells them to leave, apparently holding a stun gun at this point.

“Oh, you got a zapper,” Durham Sr. says.

The electric crackle of the stun gun can be heard. The Lathams repeatedly tell the Durhams to get off their property. Durham Jr. approaches Zachary Latham, who has a knife in one hand and the stun gun in the other. Durham is about to throw a punch when Latham swings at him with the knife.

Durham ducks out of the way to avoid the blade and all hell breaks loose.

Sarah Latham screams as the Durhams and Latham clash. Latham’s two friends join the melee.

Latham cuts Durham Sr. on his forearm, which isn’t seen on the video but is described in court documents, and the fight moves into the garage. Blood can be seen on a white car parked in the garage as the combatants end up on the floor.

The stun gun fires repeatedly as Latham’s wife screams and continues recording.

“Babe, give me the knife,” she urges at one point. “Just let go of it."

Others involved in the fight can be heard yelling, though most of what is said is inaudible.

Someone gets the stun gun away from Latham and it skids across the floor away from the tangle of arms and legs.

Durham Sr. stands up and blood can be seen on both of his arms.

He turns to aid one of his sons, who appears to be in a headlock. The exact moment at which Durham Sr. is then stabbed in the back and left underarm by Latham is unclear from the video. The wound to his underarm punctured a lung, prosecutors said.

Durham Sr. was taken home in his pickup truck and an ambulance whisked him to a hospital, where he later died.

‘Blood all over the place’

Latham called 911 after the stabbing and reported that he was attacked by people with guns.

“There’s blood all over the place,” he tells a dispatcher in a recording obtained by New Jersey Advance Media. “I just got assaulted and jumped. … I got beat up really bad and I have blood all over me. … They came with trucks, came on my property with guns and then when I … I fought them off they drove away.”

He also describes being stomped on and choked by assailants who “said they had guns and they were gonna kill us.”

Latham was treated for a concussion.

He is charged with first-degree aggravated manslaughter, two second-degree counts of aggravated assault and various weapons offenses.

Catherine Durham and her sons were also charged in the incident.

Latham was released from jail pending trial, but the Cumberland County Prosecutor’s Office has appealed that move.

In arguing against Latham’s release, prosecutors said he could have called police and remained in his home until they arrived, rather than resorting to violence.

Contacted about the appeal, PBA Local 105 Vice President Mike Gallagher praised the action. The union, which represented the slain officer, previously issued a statement denouncing Latham’s release.

“We are extremely pleased with the prosecutor’s office appealing the judge’s decision to release Latham. We have to put our faith and trust in the judicial system, and the appellate court’s decision will hopefully have justice served by incarcerating Latham once again so he’s no longer a threat to society.”

The union has rallied around the Durham family and Gallagher vowed it will remain involved.

“PBA Local 105 has been with the family from the beginning and we will be with them until the end,” he said. “Timmy’s memory will never be forgotten.”

Latham, who lives with his grandparents but is temporarily barred from returning to the home under terms of his release, was emancipated at age 17 and is a private in the New Jersey Army National Guard. A spokeswoman for the National Guard confirmed he has served since May 2019 and said his future there is under review.

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Matt Gray may be reached at mgray@njadvancemedia.com.