ORANGE COUNTY, N.C. — A North Carolina Superior Court judge denied bond for Issiah Ross. He’s accused of killing two teenagers in Orange County, including a teenager from the Triad.
Ross is accused of killing 18-year-old Devin Clark of Alamance County and 14-year-old Lyric Woods in September.
Prosecutors called the killings an execution. The defense team shared the suspect’s side of the story for the first time during court on Tuesday. The defense said it all started with a fight – and the gun belonged to Clark.
Tuesday was Ross’ second court appearance since November when he was set to be tried as an adult.
Prosecutors argued bond should be denied for Ross, calling the death of Woods and Clark an execution-style murder. The state said investigators found 13 shell casings and a significant amount of blood at the scene.
An autopsy report showed that Clark was shot five times in the back, once in the foot and once in the back of the head.
The report said Woods was shot four times.
Ross’ attorney spoke in court, saying there are discrepancies in the evidence and that the killing is out of character for the now 18-year-old suspect. The defense argued it was a struggle with a gun, not an execution-style murder. Ross’ defense argued he is not a flight risk. That’s why a bond motion was filed.
However, the state disagreed, saying Ross is a danger to the community.
It took investigators weeks to find Ross. They said he fled to Delaware after the shooting.
He was arrested several weeks later. Investigators held off on naming him because he was 17 at the time. We learned his name about a month later when the case moved to superior court.
Clark's mother, Tiffany Concepcion, spoke to WFMY News 2's Grace Holland after the hearing.
"I'm glad he didn't get bond," Concepcion said. "It hurts how they try to make him seem like he was such a good person. My kid was too and Lyric."
Ross's attorneys declined to talk to WFMY. District Attorney Jeff Nieman said he is confident in the prosecution's case.
"I just hope that the families and the community know that this is a case of the highest priority for us and that we are working hard on it," Nieman said. "This is a full office effort in support of making sure this is prosecuted fairly, appropriately, and with all due effort from our office."
We still don't know the motive in this case.