ASHEVILLE, N.C. (Court TV) — A teenager and a 28-year-old man arrested in Tennessee are behind bars in North Carolina on charges they murdered three members of a family.
Devan Loving and Star Grant are charged with murder. (WLOS)
Star Grant, 16, and Devan Loving, 28, are each charged with three counts of first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder; Loving is additionally charged with abduction, according to court records. Both are being held without bond.
The two defendants were arrested in Gatlinburg, Tennessee, on May 8, just hours after the victims’ bodies were found. But documents reviewed by Court TV indicate investigators believe the murders happened days before, on May 1.
At a news conference announcing the arrests, the Buncombe County Sheriff’s Office said that deputies had been called to perform three welfare checks at the victims’ home in Fairview, North Carolina. Deputies were unable to make entry into the home or contact with its occupants when they were called out on May 4 and May 6. On May 7, deputies said that circumstances had changed and they were able to force their way inside.
The bodies of Travis Eugene Grant, 41, Kimberly Michelle Grant, 42, and Sharon Harwood Grant, 66, were each found inside the home with gunshot wounds, according to search warrants reviewed by Court TV. Deputies identified Star Grant as the daughter of the couple and granddaughter of Sharon Grant.
Both Loving and Star Grant were extradited from Tennessee after their arrests on May 8; on Friday, Loving had his first court appearance in Buncombe County. There, prosecutors said that the defendants shot and stabbed all three victims before stealing their wallets and a firearm and fleeing the state, WLOS reported. The pair allegedly confessed to their crimes after speaking with officers.
A Grant family spokesperson, identified as Nick, told local news website 828newsNOW that the teen’s parents had recently become aware that she was in a relationship with her co-defendant and were trying to intervene. Investigators haven’t offered any public comment about the relationship between the two.
Star Grant has been charged as an adult in the case, but is being held at a juvenile detention center, according to the Buncombe County Sheriff’s Office.
