Five people were indicted in Harris County Monday in connection to what authorities have called the double homicide of a Waverly Hall couple.
Dereck Cox, 19, and Kevin Thomas McKay, 21, are accused along with Richard J. Strickland Jr., 16, and Gage Q. Bryant, 13, of killing Sherlene Robinson and Jerry Church June 28.
Joshua Douglas Pounds, 22, faces charges of burglary and concealing the death of another in relation to the case.
Chief Assistant District Attorney Mark Post said the cases were presented to a Harris County grand jury Monday, though he declined to give further specifics about the case.
Cox, McKay, Strickland and Bryant had already stolen beer from one of Church's properties the night of the slayings when they hatched a plan to get more, Harris County Sheriff's Sgt. Gary Lewis testified in July. The stories the accused gave police after their arrests differed, though it appears one of them knocked on the door with a false story about needing gas money.
When Church, 61, said he didn't have any money, he was struck in the face, Lewis said.
Cox, McKay and Strickland entered the home, the sergeant said, though accounts differ on who attacked Church and his 57-year-old wife. Lewis said Church was stabbed in the neck and Robinson was choked.
The group left in one vehicle but realized the key to another vehicle was on the key ring, so they returned for it, Lewis said.
During the investigation, Pounds said Strickland and Bryant approached him about opening lockboxes before the bodies were discovered June 28, Lewis said. They took him to Church's house, but when he saw the bodies in the living room, he left, the investigator added.
McKay was arrested June 28 after deputies were called to the scene of an accident on Ga. 18 near the 7-mile marker. Witnesses said they saw a man carrying a bottle of vodka walk from a gold 2004 Chrysler Sebring and into the woods. Deputies found a man, later determined to be McKay, walking along Salem Road.
Lewis learned that Cox had been arrested for DUI in Troup County about 20 minutes before McKay's arrest. He had been driving a truck owned by Church, the sergeant said.
Deputies discovered the bodies when they went to Church's home to tell him about the stolen Sebring.
Strickland and Bryant were linked to the slayings afterward.
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