Two men were arrested and charged with murder in a quadruple homicide in Upstate New York that police have called “an act of savagery.”
James W. White and Justin C. Mann each face one count of murder in the first degree, which carries a maximum penalty of life without the possibility of parole, and four counts of murder in the second degree. Both suspects, from Schenectady, N.Y., were arraigned in Troy City Court on Saturday, with the next court appearance scheduled for Jan. 4.
The day after Christmas, police found the bodies of 36-year-old Shanta Myers; two of her children, Shanise Myers, 5, and Jeremiah “JJ” Myers, 11; and her partner, 22-year-old Brandi Mells, inside a basement apartment in Troy, N.Y.
The four were killed Dec. 21, and one of the defendants was acquainted with one of the victims, Troy Police Chief John Tedesco said at a news conference Saturday.
From the beginning, police, who have not provided details about the deaths, described the case as a horrific crime.
“After being in this business for almost 42 years, I can’t describe the savagery of this,” Tedesco told reporters Wednesday.
“Nobody that’s been involved in this case is going to ever forget this, I can tell you that,” he added.
The killings had left Myers’s relatives and her 15-year-old son broken and desperate for answers.
Myers’s sister, Shakera Symes, had implored any potential witnesses to speak with authorities to find “the person who has destroyed us, emotionally, mentally,” according to the Times Union.
“It feels like somebody has ripped us to shreds,” Symes told the Albany newspaper.
Myers’s son, Isaiah Smith, was away when he heard what happened to his mother, brother and sister — and said he feared for his own life.
“I’m scared to go to the corner store,” he told reporters, according to the Times Union. “I’m not sure if they’re coming for me next.”
On Saturday, Tedesco said the police do not have a motive for the killings but are confident that there will not be any additional arrests, even though the investigation continues. Police said autopsies would be conducted Wednesday, but results have not been released.
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