(NEW YORK) — A person arrested in Georgia has confessed to murdering 5 folks in South Carolina, authorities introduced Tuesday.
James Douglas Drayton, 24, was taken into custody in Georgia’s Burke County on Monday morning, after he allegedly dedicated an armed theft and fled the scene in a stolen automobile that authorities mentioned was registered to a member of the family of one of many victims in South Carolina’s Spartanburg County, about 145 miles away.
“He confessed to the crime,” Spartanburg County Sheriff Chuck Wright mentioned throughout a press convention on Tuesday. “He principally mentioned he’d been listening to voices. Unsure what which means for him, however he knew he’d been utilizing meth and had been up for like 4 days. Hadn’t slept in 4 days, in all probability not considering.”
The murders occurred over the weekend within the city of Inman at a house that Wright described as a “secure haven” for drug use. Deputies from the Spartanburg County Sheriff’s Workplace responded to a loss of life name on the residence on Bobo Drive on Sunday night. Upon arrival, deputies found 4 individuals who had been shot to loss of life — recognized as Thomas Ellis Anderson, 37, Adam Daniel Morley, 32, Mark Allen Hewitt, 59, and Roman Christean Megael Rocha, 19.
A fifth sufferer was discovered nonetheless exhibiting indicators of life and was transported to Spartanburg Medical Middle, the place they died. Their identification was not launched as a result of their household has not but been notified, in keeping with the Spartanburg County Sheriff’s Workplace.
“That is the most important single homicide we have had in Spartanburg County,” Wright informed reporters.
Wright mentioned all 5 victims had been drug customers and had been identified to Drayton, who investigators imagine had been staying on the house for about two weeks. The victims had been additionally residing there on the time of the incident and investigators positioned belongings with Drayton’s title, in keeping with the Spartanburg County Sheriff’s Workplace.
“Would not have mattered to me in the event that they had been church members and by no means did any of that stuff, or they had been heroin addicts. They had been nonetheless any individual’s son, brother, pal, dad,” Wright mentioned. “They’re all a baby of God — they did not deserve what they received.”
After the shootings, Drayton allegedly stole a automotive from the house, which he crashed throughout a quick, high-speed chase in Georgia, the place he was apprehended and is now awaiting extradition to South Carolina. He will likely be charged with 5 counts of homicide, Wright mentioned.
Drayton gave investigators a “full confession” in regards to the murders, offering “particular data” in regards to the crime scene, together with the placement of the 5 victims, in keeping with the Spartanburg County Sheriff’s Workplace.
“I haven’t got solutions as to why. He mentioned some issues in his interviews that I will maintain on to as a result of his legal professional in all probability must course of some of these things,” Wright mentioned. “It is terrible.”
Burke County’s on-line jail data didn’t listing an legal professional for Drayton.
Though the suspect was arrested, Wright mentioned the victims “didn’t get justice in any respect.”
“Simply because we have now somebody in custody does not make issues higher for these households,” he added. “It simply signifies that they don’t need to surprise.”
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