COLUMBIA, S.C. — A Spartanburg man was arrested in Georgia Monday in the deaths of five people at an Inman home, which Spartanburg County Sheriff Chuck Wright described as a place where people went to use drugs.
Wright said it was the largest multiple-murders case in Spartanburg history.
He identified the suspect as James Douglas Drayton, 24, and said Drayton confessed to killing the men after using methamphetamines, being awake for four days and hearing voices.
Drayton faces four counts of homicide and four counts of possession of a gun in a violent crime. The Sheriff’s Office expects more charges will be added now that all family members have been contacted.
The fifth victim was identified Tuesday afternoon as James Derek Baldwin, 49, who had been staying at the home.
Wright said the suspect was found driving a car in Burke County in eastern Georgia that belonged to the mother of one of the victims. The victim’s mother had reported her car was taken without permission and the information was in the NCIC database.
Burke County Sheriff’s Office said on Facebook a man went into a gas station/convenience store, brandished a weapon and told the clerk to give him cash from the register. Officers attempted to pull over a car, which was wrecked after a chase. The suspect fled on foot and was caught after a lengthy chase, officers said
Drayton is charged in Burke County with armed robbery, kidnapping, possession of a firearm during the commission of a crime, DUI and fleeing and eluding.
The suspect had the gun believed to have been used in the killings in the car as well as some ammunition, Wright said. He did not say what type of gun it was.
Wright said the extradition process to bring him back to Spartanburg has begun.
Drayton had been living at the Bobo Drive home where the five men were shot, Wright said. Some of his belongings were found in the house.
The Spartanburg County Coroner said the other victims were Roman Christean Megael Rocha, 19; Thomas Ellis Anderson, 37; Adam Daniel Morley, 32; and Mark Allen Hewitt, 59.
Anderson and Morley lived in the house; Hewitt was staying there, Clevenger said.
He said the house was known to narcotics officers and some complaints about the house had been made in the past.
“It doesn’t matter whether they were church members or heroin addicts,” he said. “They were somebody’s son.”
Wright said he hopes the murders meet the criteria for the death penalty, which is a determination the solicitor will make.
Officers were called to the house around 7:45 p.m. Sunday. Wright said investigators believe the shootings took place around 9 a.m. Sunday.
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