Orange County jury reaches partial decision in trial of man accused in teens’ deaths
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Jury reached unanimous verdict on Devin Clark death; verdict not announced
- Jury split 8-4 on whether Issiah Ross fatally shot Lyric Woods; deliberations resume.
- Ross faces two first-degree murder counts; defense claims self‑defense, weapon missing.
READ MORE
The deaths of Lyric Woods & Devin Clark
On Sept. 18, 2022, two missing teens were found dead with gunshot wounds in Orange County near Efland. Here is ongoing coverage from The News & Observer of the investigation, its aftermath and trial.
Expand All
Read the latest: “Orange County jury finds Ross guilty of 1 teen’s murder but splits on 2nd killing”
An Orange County jury reached agreement on a verdict Wednesday in the death of one teen killed in 2022, but remained split on who killed the other as court ended for the day.
Jury members will return Thursday morning to decide whether Issiah Ross, 21, fatally shot 14-year-old Lyric Woods in a field off Buckhorn Road near Efland on Sept. 17, 2022. Superior Court Judge Stephanie Reese announced Wednesday that the jury remained split 8-4 over whether Ross killed Woods.
The jury has reached a unanimous verdict after three days of deliberation as to whether Ross killed 18-year-old Devin Clark, she said. The details of the verdict were not announced in court.
Ross is charged with two counts of first-degree murder in the fatal shootings. He maintains that he acted in self-defense after Clark shot Woods and then turned the gun on Ross. His attorney Jonathan Trapp contended that Clark brought the gun used in the shooting and killed Woods after an argument. Ross acted to save his own life, Trapp said.
The jury can only decide whether Ross is guilty of first-degree murder in Woods’ death, because the attorneys agreed that she was not a threat to Ross. In Clark’s murder, the jury can find Ross not guilty or find him guilty of:
- First-degree murder: If Ross acted with malice, premeditation and deliberation.
- Second-degree murder: If Ross acted with malice, but not with premeditation and deliberation.
- Voluntary manslaughter: If the jury decides Ross acted in self-defense but used excessive force against Clark while saving his own life. The jury does not have to find that Ross acted with malice, premeditation or deliberation.
The weapon used in the shooting has never been found.
The jury got a late start Wednesday after two days off due to the winter storm. Before noon, they sent questions to the judge seeking clarification about the difference between second-degree murder and voluntary manslaughter.
They also asked for more information about malice, which is required to convict someone of first- or second-degree murder. Voluntary manslaughter does not require a finding of malice, which shows an intent to harm someone or that someone acted with extremely reckless behavior.
Reese said before dismissing the courtroom Wednesday that she will accept a verdict in Clark’s murder and declare Wood’s murder a mistrial if the jury cannot reach a unanimous decision. That would require the court to start the Woods trial again with a new jury.
“I will continue to let this jury work as long as I feel they can get somewhere,” she said.
What led to the murders?
Witness testimony and Snapchat messages shared during the trial indicated Woods, a student at Cedar Ridge High School in Hillsborough, coordinated with Clark to pick her up and that she snuck out of her house sometime after 11 p.m. Sept. 16, 2022.
Clark, who didn’t have a car, reached out to others through Snapchat asking for a ride in exchange for sex with Woods. Ross, who attended Eastern Alamance High School with Clark and had hung out with him before, agreed to give them a ride. He took his mother’s GMC Terrain sport-utility vehicle without permission, he testified.
Ross said he didn’t know Woods before that night, and none of the evidence presented in court showed that Woods knew about Clark’s promise that she would have sex with him and Ross.
The teens parked the SUV on a gravel path in a rural area of Buckhorn Road not far from Woods’ house, he said. That’s where the stories diverge.
Ross, who was the defense’s only witness, said Clark brought his father’s gun in his backpack. Clark’s father Dexter Clark Jr. testified that he contacted police after the bodies were found Sept. 18, 2022, to report his gun was missing.
Ross testified that he waited outside the SUV for Clark and Woods to have sex, but Woods got out of the vehicle and was arguing with Clark. Clark fatally shot Woods and turned the gun on him, Ross said, leaving him no choice but to wrestle the gun from Clark and shoot him.
Ross didn’t have time to plan any murders or think twice as he repeatedly pulled the trigger, his attorney Trapp said, so the deaths don’t meet the threshold required for first-degree murder.
Assistant District Attorney Anna Orr argued Ross shot Woods and Clark after Clark repeatedly pointed the gun’s laser sight at him and Ross wrestled the gun away. The victims were shot from behind as they fled, and Ross shot each one in the head to make sure they were dead, she said.
“Fear runs away,” Orr said. “It does not give chase.”
Ross left North Carolina on Sept. 18, 2022, after catching a bus from Raleigh to Delaware, where he also has family, he testified. He was arrested in Delaware on Oct. 2, 2022, and returned to Orange County, where he has remained in the Orange County jail.
This is a breaking-news story and will be updated.
This story was originally published January 28, 2026 at 4:49 PM.
