Issiah Ross is charged with killing 18-year-old Devin Clark and 14-year-old Lyric Woods in 2022. Both teens were found by ATV riders on a remote county path and appeared to be shot multiple times, according to prosecutors.
Ross was charged with first-degree murder. In March 2025, Ross entered a plea of not guilty.
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The trial began Monday, Jan. 12, 2026. Ross opted to reject the deal and not give a counteroffer to prosecutors.
On Thursday, Jan. 29, 2026, the jury found Ross guilty of second-degree murder of Clark, and could not come to a verdict in the circumstances surrounding Woods's death. He is to serve a minimum of 20 years in prison for the murder of Devin Clark, according to Judge Stephanie Reese.
Who were Lyric Woods and Devin Clark?
Lyric Woods and Devin Clark were reported missing in September 2022. Woods, a student at Cedar Ridge High School in Hillsborough, and Clark, a student at Eastern Alamance High School and a football player, were good friends, according to family members.
Their bodies were found on Sept. 18, 2022, off a remote ATV path in Orange County.
After the deaths of Clark and Woods, police said Ross fled to Delaware, where he was arrested in October 2022.
Ross is not eligible for the death penalty because he was under 18 years old at the time of the alleged crimes.
Ross, who went to school with Clark at Eastern Alamance High School in Mebane, will be tried as an adult.
Clark's mother said Clark and Ross knew each other, but not well, as Ross had only been at Eastern Alamance for a few days before Clark and Woods went missing.
