The North Carolina teenager charged in the September murders of Lyric Woods, 14, and Devin Clark, 18, has been charged as an adult weeks after he was initially nabbed for the slayings, officials said Monday.
Issiah Mehki Ross, 17, was identified Monday as the person accused of fatally shooting the pair in mid-September in a rural area of Mebane, Clarke County law enforcement officials said. Ross, who is from Mebane, was detained on Oct. 5, and charged as a juvenile for two counts of first-degree murder.
Ross was given until Friday to appeal the judge’s decision to charge him as an adult, but did not, officials said. He will remain in a youth facility, where he is being held without bond, despite the recent change to his juvenile status, a Clarke County spokesperson said.
NORTH CAROLINA DOUBLE MURDER: JUVENILE SUSPECT ACCUSED OF KILLING 2 TEENS ARRESTED
North Carolina double murder victims Devin Clark, 18, and Lyric Woods, 14.
(STXPix/ McClure Funeral Services)
Officials would not comment as to a motive, though they noted that they “have some theories” and “some evidence.”
Clark was a junior at East Alamance High School in Mebane, where he played football. Woods was a freshman at Cedar Ridge High School in Hillsborough. The teens were known to be friends.
WFMY2 reported that Ross was listed as a student at East Alamance High School from Aug. 29, 2022, to Sept. 3, 2022.
Devin Clark and Lyric Woods were found dead off Buckhorn Road in Mebane, North Carolina, on Sept. 17.
(STXPix/ Instagram)
According to Rolling Stone, a Soundcloud account holder with Ross’ name, who went by the username “Mi$tr3,” uploaded five songs just one day after the grisly murder was discovered.
Lyrics to some of the songs discuss “headshots,” and having “s— I can’t talk about/I cannot discuss,” Rolling Stone reported.
Friends and relatives of Devin Clark gather in downtown Yanceyville, North Carolina, Sept. 22, 2022, for a vigil in honor of the 18-year-old.
(STX Pics for Fox News Digital)
Sheriff Charles Blackwood told reporters on Monday that Lyric left home on Sept. 16, and her parents reported her missing the next day. Clark’s family reported him missing on Sept. 18, he said.
Just before 3 p.m. on Sept. 18, deputies learned that two men riding four-wheelers discovered the teens’ bodies, Blackwood said.
The site where the bodies of Devin Clark and Lyric Woods were found in Mebane, North Carolina.
(Matt Symons for Fox News Digital)
Blackwood said investigators spoke with several nearby residents, who described hearing gunshots during the early morning hours of Sept. 17. They said they linked Ross to the crime scene through evidence they collected there.
Ross allegedly fled the state and was ultimately taken into custody in Delaware.
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A police line near where the remains of missing teens Lyric Woods and Devin Clark were found.
(Audrey Conklin/Fox News Digital)
The victims were located bedside a gravel road beneath power lines parallel to an ATV trail in a rural area off Buckhorn Road in Mebane. According to 911 calls obtained by Fox News Digital, the reporter told police, “We’ve actually discovered two dead bodies.”
“They’re just laying on the side of the road,” the caller said.
