A 17-year-old was accused of murder Tuesday in the deaths of two North Carolina high school students who vanished over the weekend and were found dead, authorities said.
The suspect, who is not in custody, is suspected of first-degree murder in the killings of Lyric Woods, 14, and Devin Clark, 18, the Orange County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement.
Woods was a freshman and Clark was a former football player at another high school west of Durham, their school districts said in separate statements.
In a statement, the sheriff’s office said officials filed a juvenile petition against the suspect Tuesday, initiating a process to have the teen tried as an adult in the state's superior court system.
Orange County Sheriff Charles Blackwood said his investigators identified the suspect with the help of other law enforcement agencies.
“We will now work with local, state and federal authorities to apprehend and present the suspect to the court system,” he said.
Blackwood did not identify a possible motive.
Men riding four-wheelers found the bodies of Woods and Clark in western Orange County on Monday afternoon, the sheriff's office said. Both appeared to have been shot to death.
They were found more than 2 miles from Woods' home, NBC affiliate WRAL of Raleigh reported. Clark's mother, Tiffany Concepcion, told the station the pair were good friends.
Both were reported missing over the weekend, the sheriff's office said.
In a statement, the Alamance-Burlington School System described Clark as a former football player with the Eastern Alamance Eagles.
Clark "will always be remembered as a kind-hearted, gentle giant who was well liked by his classmates," the district said.
His school remembered him Monday with a balloon release, WRAL reported.
Woods was a ninth-grader at Cedar Ridge High School in Hillsborough, Orange County Schools said in a statement.
"Our hearts are with all of Lyric’s family and everyone who knew her," the district said.