The 17-year-old accused of killing two other local teenagers in rural Orange County made his first appearance in superior court on Tuesday morning.
Issiah Mehki Ross, who investigators said has a Mebane address, was brought into the courtroom for around two minutes for a procedural hearing. Despite being tried as an adult in the case, Ross arrived after being held at a youth facility in black jeans and a graphic t-shirt.
The appearance was the teenager’s first since the pair of murder charges were referred by Orange County prosecutors from juvenile court to superior court. Ross is the lead suspect in the deaths of 14-year-old Lyric Woods and 18-year-old Devin Clark, whose bodies were found together off Buckhorn Road in rural Orange County on Sunday, September 19. The pair, whose families say they were friends, were separately reported missing earlier that weekend.
There was little new information about the high-profile homicide case, which drew dozens of community members and reporters to the courthouse, shared on Tuesday. Ross’ attorney, Jonathan Trapp with the Durham-based James Williams Jr. P.A. law office, had previously filed two motions to the court. One is a bond motion to modify conditions of pre-trial release, while the other is a motion for return of property.
During the brief proceedings, Ross sat in his chair beside his representation and did not speak or have any visceral reactions.
Issiah Ross, middle, sits in the Orange County Superior Court room on November 15, 2022.
Judge Allen Baddour accepted continuation of the case to the December 13 session of Orange County Superior Court, also ruling that Ross continue to be held in a youth facility under no bond. Ross was later escorted from the courthouse into an unmarked car for transport.
Issiah Ross, middle, leaves the Orange County courthouse after his initial hearing on two first-degree murder charges on November 15, 2022.
As Ross was in the courtroom, several of the people sitting in the crowd locked arms or held hands. Several people wearing t-shirts with photos of Woods sat together on the prosecution side of the room, leaving as a group and providing no comments to media members.
Orange County investigators revealed earlier in November that they found evidence suggesting Ross as the lead suspect after the bodies of Woods and Clark were discovered. Because Ross is a juvenile, however, North Carolina law on charging juvenile suspects limited the sheriff’s office in what information could be shared. During that time, however, investigators reportedly learned Ross fled to Delaware and worked with state authorities to obtain a warrant, arrest the 17-year-old and transport him back to North Carolina.
Several outlets report two women in Dover, Delaware have since been charged with the felony of hindering prosecution: 22-year-old Nakaysha Ross and 21-year-old McKenzie Mitchell.
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