ORANGE COUNTY, N.C. — Orange County officials identified the 17-year-old suspect in connection with the murder of two teens. District Attorney Jeffrey Nieman said the teen will be tried as an adult.
Issiah Mehki Ross is accused of killing Devin Clark and Lyric Woods in September. He's being held without bond in a juvenile facility.
According to the Alamance-Burlington School System, Issiah Mehki Ross was enrolled at Eastern Alamance High School from August 29, 2022, to Sept 3, 2022.
The sheriff's office said ATV riders found the bodies of Clark and Woods in the woods in western Orange County on September 18.
Clark was a senior and football player at Eastern Alamance High School. Woods was a freshman at Cedar Ridge High School.
“A juvenile petition was secured for Ross (determining) him as a suspect by processing the crime scene and surrounding area,” Orange County Sheriff Charles Blackwood said. “These efforts led investigators to believe that Ross is responsible for the death of Clark and Woods.”
Investigators said Ross ran away to Delaware late Sunday, September 18 - the day Clark and Woods' bodies were found. Two people have been charged with harboring him.
“Several days after his apprehension, Ross arrived in North Carolina and entered the juvenile facility in another county,” Blackwood said.
The investigation is now in the hands of the Orange County District Attorney’s Office.
Investigators haven't said a motive in the killings.
The next court date is scheduled for November 15.