Teen accused of Orange County double murders moves closer to adult charges
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The deaths of Lyric Woods & Devin Clark
On Sept. 18, 2022, two missing teens were found dead with gunshot wounds in Orange County near Efland. Here is ongoing coverage from The News & Observer of the investigation, its aftermath and trial.
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Update: “Prosecutors charge Mebane teen as adult with double murder of NC teenagers”
A teen suspect in the September killing of two teenagers moved closer to adult charges after a court hearing in Hillsborough on Tuesday.
The 17-year-old suspect’s name has not been released because of his age. He is charged with two counts of murder in the Sept. 18 deaths of 14-year-old Lyric Woods and 18-year-old Devin Clark.
Court and law enforcement officials have been tight-lipped about the case.
A TV monitor in the courthouse lobby Tuesday morning showed a juvenile hearing scheduled for 3 p.m. in Courtroom 3, which normally holds first appearance hearings for adult suspects at 2 p.m. each day.
Orange County Assistant District Attorney Jeff Nieman has said transferring the case to adult court could take up to 15 days following the suspect’s return to Orange County last week. He declined to comment after the closed hearing Tuesday..
The family of Lyric Woods, meanwhile, entered and left the courthouse Tuesday afternoon wearing matching white T-shirts with her picture on them.
Bodies found along ATV trail
Investigators have said Woods and Clark were found around 3 p.m. Sept. 18 in the woods off Buckhorn Road in western Orange County. Both teens had gunshot wounds and were found along an ATV trail south of Efland.
The Orange County Sheriff’s Office and the Orange-Chatham District Attorney’s Office issued a juvenile petition a few days later charging the suspect in the case, but they have withheld his name because he is a juvenile.
A 2019 change in state law bars 16- and 17-year-old criminal suspects from being automatically charged as adults. The law prevents law enforcement and court officials from also releasing information about suspects under age 18 until they are charged as adults.
The Orange County suspect had his first appearance in juvenile court last week at the Orange County courthouse, officials said.
Nieman has said he will seek to have the case transferred to Superior Court. The suspect’s name and details about the case will become public at that point.
Officials have not ruled out additional arrests, Nieman has said.
Grandfather offers reward
Woods’ grandfather Stan Dean offered a $10,000 reward for information leading to an arrest and conviction in the days after his granddaughter’s death. Dean spoke with The N&O in September while erecting a cross wrapped with lights at a memorial to the teens near the corner of Buckhorn and Yarbrough roads.
Woods and Clark were friends, their family and friends have said in social media posts. Woods was a freshman at Cedar Ridge High School in Hillsborough and played volleyball for a travel team. Clark, a senior at Eastern Alamance High School in Mebane, was a wide receiver on last year’s varsity football team and loved riding dirt bikes, friends and school officials have said.
Authorities have not said whether the suspect knew Clark and Woods.
This story was originally published October 25, 2022 at 12:03 PM with the headline "Teen accused of Orange County double murders moves closer to adult charges."
