Prosecution: Ross confessed to friend before bodies were found

All right we're ready for opening statements Madam DA

Yes Your Honor

is with you

Thank you so much

On the night of September 16 2022 Devin Clark and

Lyric Woods made plans to meet up

Uh Lyric was gonna sneak out of the house 14

it was definitely sneaking

Uh Devin was 18 so his rules

Different uh legally an adult he could come and go

as he pleased but of course he was living under

his father's roof and so dad's rules apply

But they were gonna meet up and hang out for

a bit um like teenagers do

Uh Lyric's mother will tell you that Lyric came in

the living room said goodnight to them around 11 p.m.

on the 16th said she was gonna go take a

shower and that that was the last time she saw

her daughter alive

The next morning she woke up Saturday morning the 17th

uh she and um her younger daughter were going to

wake Lyric up so that they could decorate the house

for fall

And when Lyric's younger sister went to her room she

wasn't there

That Queen Elizabeth very worried went to go check for

herself not there

Couldn't find her anywhere in the house uh called her

father said is she with you No

And so at that point Barrack's family filed a missing

persons report and that was Saturday morning September 17th

Now like I mentioned Devin was 18 years old his

father will tell you it was not unusual for him

to leave the house on Friday night and perhaps spend

an entire weekend with some of his friends crashing at

one of their places

Um so when he called him on Saturday it didn't

get a response

It wasn't necessarily unusual but what was unusual was that

the calls went straight to voicemail

And he tried again and it went straight to voicemail

and he was unable to reach Devin at all on

that Saturday

Vella's family was in the midst of working with law

enforcement to take any steps they could to try to

locate her

Saturday night turned into Sunday morning still nothing

At that time Devin's father began to get very worried

because he had still been unable to reach Devin

On Saturday about uh excuse me Sunday about midday Devin's

father filed a missing persons report

At this point it was beyond what he would normally

expect from his son

Um What both families couldn't have known and what nobody

knew at that time was that Lyric and Devon were

already dead

On Sunday afternoon around 3 p.m. Two folks who were

riding four wheelers going to check deer cameras in an

area off of an access road near Buckhorn Road in

Eland located two bodies and they called 911

When investigators arrived on scene they located the bodies of

Lyric Woods and Devin Clark

They had been shot multiple times

Moscators also observed that it appeared that the bodies had

been there for a little while before they were discovered

The investigation revealed that they were killed approximately 2:00 a.m.

on Saturday September 17th

So just a few hours after their parents said good

night to them

And approximately 36 hours prior to the discovery of their

bodies

On the following Monday September 19th an individual contacted the

Orange County Sheriff's Office said that he had information about

this case

And speaking with that individual this is the first time

investigators heard the name Isaiah Ross the defendant

I expect that you'll hear from that witness and he

will tell you that the defendant confessed to killing

Devin Clark and Lyric Woods

And that the timing of his confession was before their

bodies were discovered

You'll hear from a cell site and location data analysis

expert who will explain when the victims and the defendant

came to be together in the early morning hours of

September 17th

You'll hear from a DNA expert who will tell you

that Lyric's blood was on the exterior of the defendant's

mother's vehicle a vehicle that he is on surveillance video

driving in those very same early morning hours of September

17th

You'll hear that 12 shell casings were recovered from the

crime scene located in 3 distinct groups

A forensic firearms examination expert will tell you that all

12 of those casings were fired from the same firearm

You'll hear from the medical examiner

You'll hear that Devin was shot 6 times that Lyric

was shot 7 times

That they both were shot in the back

That Devin had a shot to the back of his

head

And that lyric was shot twice in the neck at

close range

You'll hear that the murder weapon and Devin's phone were

never recovered

And finally you'll hear that on the evening of Sunday

September 18th After the bodies were found

The defendant left the state

He was arrested in Delaware on October 5th 2022 18

days after they were killed

Members of the jury this is just a brief forecast

of the evidence you're gonna hear in this case

I ask you if you listen to the testimony and

review the evidence that you keep these things in mind

the timeline the physical evidence and the defendant's confession

And when you've heard it all

When the tube is laid bare in front of you

I will ask you to hold the defendant accountable

I will ask you to find him guilty

Thank you