Selvaraju Vellingiri, 55, was fatally shot on August 27, 2020, in Cary, North Carolina. His body was found near a community pool in the 100 block of Connemara Drive after witnesses reported hearing five gunshots in rapid succession and then seeing a man flee toward nearby tennis courts. Authorities said the killing appeared random and was not motivated by his ethnicity; it was recorded as Cary’s first homicide of that year.

Investigators later arrested 29-year-old Nicholas Dalton Nanes of Raleigh in connection with Vellingiri’s murder; Nanes was also charged in the August 7, 2020, killing of Bobby Earl Lucas in North Raleigh. Officials described Nanes as having a lengthy criminal history and reported his mother had said he struggled with mental illness. Friends remembered Vellingiri as bright, well read and devoted to his family; a candlelight vigil was held at Bond Park Sertoma Amphitheatre.

Authorities said the investigation remained active but that they did not believe there was an ongoing threat to the public.