A North Carolina teenager accused of a double murder reportedly authored and recorded violent songs while on the run.
Seventeen-year-old Issiah Mehki Ross is facing two first-degree murder charges in the deaths of Lyric Woods, 14, and Devin Clark, 18. The victims were fatally shot after they went missing on 16 September, according to the Orange County Sheriff’s Office.
Their bodies were found on 18 September near a gravel road beneath power lines, Fox News Digital reported. Mr Ross, who attended school with Clark at Eastern Alamance High School in Mebane, was taken into custody on 5 October, but his identity was not revealed until Monday.
He was initially charged as a juvenile before Orange County authorities determined that the case would be tried in adult court due to the severity of the crime.
While the motive behind the killings remains unknown, it has now emerged that during his 18-day run from law enforcement in Delaware, Ms Ross reportedly wrote dark and violent lyrics and posted the songs on his SoundCloud profile, where he goes by @Mi$tr3, The News&Observer reported.
In one of the songs, Mr Ross sings about “riding round with a new Glock,” while in another lyric, the narrator recounts, “[getting] inside my car like I’m sipping on blood. So much red inside my car like in the Akorn I trust. Got some s–t I can’t talk about, I cannot discuss.”
The songs were posted on SoundCloud within days of the killings. The News&Observer also reported that Clark followed Mr Ross on the platform.
Clark and Woods, who were friends, were reported missing on 16 September. Woods, a ninth-grader, was last seen by her parents when she went to bed, WRAL reported. Neighbours reportedly saw her getting inside a vehicle around 3am on 17 September, according to the outlet.
Authorities used K-9 units and determined that Woods had likely taken a ride near an area where four-wheelers often drive by. Their bodies were then found around two miles away from Woods’ home on 18 September.
“He was an athletic person, a good person [with a] good heart,” Clark’s mother, Tiffany Concepcion, told WRAL about her son. “He just wouldn’t hurt a fly. He loved everyone.”
Authorities have yet to release a motive behind the killings.
“We have some theories and we have some evidence, but we can’t speculate as to motive at this time,” Orange County Sheriff’s Office Public Information Officer Alicia Stamper said, per The News&Observer. “I don’t know if we’ll ever know (motive) in this case ... We don’t always know the motive.”
Mr Ross was arrested on 5 October in Delaware. Two other people were charged with harbouring a fugitive. He will be prosecuted as an adult, authorities said during a Monday presser.
