Orange County sheriff lays out timeline after suspect identified, charged in teen deaths
ORANGE COUNTY, N.C. (WTVD) -- The juvenile accused in the shooting deaths of the two teenagers will be tried as an adult after a deadline to appeal that process passed.
Attorneys for Issiah Ross, 17, who was named in court documents released Monday, did not file an appeal to prevent him from being tried as an adult before the deadline expired Friday.
He is facing two counts of first-degree murder in the murders of Devin Clark and Lyric Woods.
Ross was living in Mebane, and like Clark, attended Eastern Alamance High School. However, Ross was only enrolled for the first week of the school year.
Orange County Sheriff Charles Blackwood and Assistant District Attorney Jeff Nieman held a news conference Monday afternoon in front of the District Attorney's office to discuss the murders.
WATCH: Full news conference
Nieman said the case was transferred to Superior Court on Monday morning.
"This is a tragedy for the entire community," Nieman said.
The two were found shot dead along a powerline access off Buckhorn Road in Orange County on Sept. 18. They had been missing for more than a day when their bodies were found by two men riding ATVs.
Authorities would not say whether Ross and the victims knew each other.
As for a motive, Orange County Sheriff's Public Information Officer Alice Stemper said, "We have some theories, and we have some evidence, but we can't speculate as to motive."
On Monday, investigators did lay out a timeline for the first time since the bodies of the two teens were found.
The investigation started when Woods' family reported her missing as of late Friday, Sept. 16 or early the next day.
A day later, Clark's family reported him missing.
Later that day, Sept. 18, is when the two ATV riders found the bodies.
Ross fled to Delaware that same day. How he got there is unclear and investigators wouldn't say why he went there specifically.
They did say he hadn't lived in North Carolina for very long.
"We had a reasonably good idea where he was going," the sheriff said. Blackwood added that they contacted the Delaware Violent Crime Safe Streets Task Force, which eventually obtained search warrants on a home and took Ross into custody on Oct. 5.
Eighteen days after the bodies were discovered, Ross was taken into custody.
At that time, he was considered a juvenile under North Carolina law and information about him, including his name could not be released.
"The entire resources of my office and the district attorney's office and partnering law enforcement agencies were used, and we're grateful for their help," Blackwood said.
Investigators said they are confident they have the right person as the case moves forward.
By law, Ross is being held in a youth facility. He was given no bond.
In connection with this case, Delaware authorities have charged two people with harboring a fugitive.
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