Photo: Mauldin Football/Twitter
South Carolina police have arrested three teens in the fatal shooting of an honor roll high school student-athlete, PEOPLE confirms.
The Greenville County Sheriff’s Office arrested a 16-year-old male teen Thursday in connection with the death of Mauldin High School student Joshua Meeks. The teen, whose name is not being disclosed because of his age, faces charges of murder, possession of a weapon during a violent crime, armed robbery and grand larceny.
Sosa Mandiez Croft.GCSO
Croft and the juvenile suspect have yet to enter a plea and are being held on no bond at the Greenville County Detention Center.
A third suspect, Lyric Mone Lawson, 18, was arrested Friday and is facing charges of accessory after the fact. Police allege Lawson helped conceal and transport Meeks’ body after he was killed. Lawson was transported to the Greenville County Detention Center where she awaits a bond hearing.
Meeks, 16, was found dead near an intersection in Laurens County Thursday after he was reported missing Jan. 30. The teen’s mother told police her son did not return home after a night out with friends, according toFox Carolina.
The same day Meeks was reported missing, deputies discovered his Toyota Corolla parked at an apartment complex in Greenville County around 1 p.m. with “copious amounts” of blood inside and outside the vehicle, theGreenville Newsreports.
Greenville County Sheriff’s Office Lt. Ryan Flood tells PEOPLE investigators learned that Croft and Meeks had been involved in a drug deal prior to his shooting death.
“We do have information that this was a result of a drug deal gone bad,” he says. “It is definitely unfortunate.”
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At a bond hearing Thursday, Croft told the victim’s family that he “never had an issue with Josh” and “wouldn’t personally do this,” according to Fox.
“To the victim’s family I understand that nothing I say can ever bring Joshua back but I’m going to let you know this now, I’m working with my lawyer and I’m real-life telling who the killer is, who the person, the monster is, who took your son away from you, the person who pulled the trigger that night,” Croft said.
“I’m going to come clean, and put it all out there and tell my involvement of the whole situation so ya’ll can have closure even though it can’t bring him back,” he said, according to FOX.
Meeks, a junior at Maudlin High, was a member of his high school football team.
source: people.com
