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Sheriff: 1 arrested after 5 found dead in Inman

SPARTANBURG, S.C. (WSPA) – The man accused of killing five people in an Inman home Sunday night was arrested early Monday morning in Georgia.

Spartanburg County Sheriff Chuck Wright said James Douglas Drayton was arrested Monday in Burke County, Georgia and confessed to the murders.

A car that was stolen from one of the victims was also recovered in Georgia. This comes after deputies responded to a home on Bobo Drive around 8:30 p.m. Sunday and found four dead.

A fifth person was taken to the hospital and later died during surgery.

The Spartanburg County Coroner’s Office has released the identities of four of the victims: 37-year-old Thomas Ellis Anderson, 32-year-old Adam Daniel Morley, 59-year-old Mark Allen Hewitt, and 19-year-old Roman Christean Megael Rocha.

The Burke County Sheriff’s Office said Drayton was initially arrested Monday for an unrelated armed robbery.

Drayton was accused of robbing the Taylor Brothers X-Press convenience store on Highway 25 North in Burke County around 4:30 a.m. Monday before leading deputies there on a chase.

That chase ended with a crash in Waynesboro a short time later.

Photos from arrest in Burke County, Georgia (From: Burke Co. Sheriff Alfonzo Williams)

Sheriff Wright said Drayton was living at the house, where several of the residents were doing drugs.

Warrants stated that Drayton shot each victim multiple times.

It was the largest mass murder in the county’s history.

The Spartanburg County Sheriff’s Office has charged Drayton with four counts of murder and four counts of possession of a weapon during a violent crime.

Additional charges for the fifth victim will be signed once their family is notified and their identity is released, the sheriff’s office said.

Drayton was charged with armed robbery, kidnapping, and possession of a firearm during the commission of a crime in Burke County.

He is currently being held in the Burke County Detention Center.


Source: Fox 8 News Channel

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