Four men killed at a home in South Carolina have been identified by police.
The Spartanburg County Sheriff’s Office said that Mark Allen Hewitt, 59, Thomas Ellis Anderson, 37, Adam Daniel Morley, 32, and Roman Christean Megael Rocha, 19, were found fatally shot inside a residence at 280 Bobo Drive in Inman. Each of them was found in a different room on the night of 9 October.
A fifth victim was found wounded and taken to a hospital for treatment but later succumbed to their injuries, police said. Police in Georgia have arrested James Douglas Drayton, 24, who is expected to be extradited to South Carolina on four counts of homicide and four counts of possession of a weapon.
A source also told The Independent that the victims were roommates and that the suspect was brought to the home by someone who lived there. Anderson, whose father reportedly owns the house, then allegedly told the suspect there weren't any more available rooms but that he could crash on the couch.
"And apparently that wasn't good enough and he just went and started shooting people," the source said on Tuesday. “[The violence] was ruthless, senseless, heartless. All five of those people had families. Every one of them."
Police said the name of the fifth victim will be released once their family members are informed. Additional homicide and possession of a firearm while committing a crime charges are expected to be filed against Mr Drayton.
Mr Drayton was arrested by the Burke County Sheriff’s Office in Georgia on Monday during an armed robbery investigation. He allegedly committed theft before escaping in a vehicle that was registered to the mother of one of the victims in Spartanburg.
Burke County then reached out to the Spartanburg County Sheriff’s Office, which had already located some of Drayton’s personal items inside the home where the violence broke out. He later allegedly confessed to the killings, authorities said.
“Our investigators believe that Drayton was staying on Bobo Dr. for approximately [two] weeks,” a statement by Spartanburg County Sheriff’s Office said. “Without providing all the details of the confession, Drayton was able to provide specific information about the scene including the location of the victims.”
Anderson’s ex-girlfriend, Sami McKelvey, told The Independent that she used to live in the home where the events happened with her ex-partner and her two children.
“Thomas was a free-spirited person. He loved life. He definitely made an impact on anybody that he came in contact with,” Ms McKelevey said choking back tears. "I always kept in touch with his family just to keep tabs on them, make sure that he was still doing good.
She said that she was not sure how she would deliver the tragic news to her children, aged 11 and eight, who Anderson helped raise.
"I spoke to his child's mother because he does have a daughter of his own, and she's the same age as my daughter,” she said. “He was just starting to get back into having a relationship with her and it's just unfortunate that she's not gonna be able to do that with Thomas."
She added: “I didn't know how to react. I was shocked. I was hurt. I was confused. The confusion, that's the part that kills me the most. He was here and now he is gone.”
Sheriff Chuck Wright that Drayton said “some things” in his interview that the department is not disclosing at the moment.
A source who spoke with The Independent said that Anderson had been having issues with one of the people renting at the home lately.
“He wanted to be as civil about it as possible because he was unsure about the guy and his mental health,” the source said.
The source alleged that authorities believe Drayton was brought to the home by that roommate. The Independent has reached out to Spartanburg County Sheriff’s Office for comment.
“Thomas would’ve given him his last dime out of his pocket. He would’ve, if he would have come to him the next day and said, ‘I really don’t have any place to stay the night’, Thomas would’ve worked something,” the source said.
“’Ask and you shall receive’, that's what Thomas' motto was.”
Spartanburg County Coroner Rusty Clevenger told local news station WYFF that “the sheriff’s office, [his] office, nobody’s going to let up on this, even the prosecutor’s office, [are] not going to let up on this.”
“They’re all hands on deck, everybody is really working hard on this. The public needs to understand this may be shocking, but the Sheriff and his men, prosecutors’ office, my folks, we’re going to stay with it until this gets solved,” Mr Clevenger said.
