Investigators believe a 41-year-old man killed his girlfriend and her adult son inside the Lilburn home where the three lived, the city’s police department said Monday. But their bodies were found at two different crime scenes because the suspect tried to hide one of the bodies in the woods, according to police.
The suspect, 41-year-old Jaynell Treymar Edwards, was arrested last week about 30 miles from Lilburn and charged with murder, Capt. Scott Bennett said. Edwards is accused of stabbing to death Melissa Teran, 45, and Kevin Weir, 23, with a kitchen knife in the Birdlake Drive home, Bennett said.
No details about a motive in the case were released.
In each of the past two years, Lilburn police have investigated one homicide. It’s been more than 20 years since the city had a double homicide, Bennett confirmed.
Investigators said they believe the mother and son were killed in the early morning hours of New Year’s Day, warrants state. The investigation began Jan. 5 as a wellness check when family members couldn’t reach Teran or Weir, police said.
Around 5:30 p.m. that day, Lilburn officers went to a home at the request of a caller from out of state, Bennett said. What began as a missing person investigation became a possible homicide, he said.
“Lilburn investigators worked through the night into Tuesday (Jan. 7) throughout the metro Atlanta area obtaining evidence, following leads and conducting interviews,” Bennett said. “Their efforts resulted in locating two separate crime scenes Tuesday evening within Gwinnett County and the recovery and identification of two bodies.”
Arrest warrants did not specify which body Edwards allegedly removed from the home.
The suspect was being held in the Gwinnett jail without bond Monday. Gwinnett and Duluth police assisted with the investigation.
The last time Lilburn detectives investigated a double homicide was Dec. 29, 2004. That’s when Khanh Dinh Phan killed his friend Hung Thai, 37, and Thai’s 2-year-old son, Hugh, over a gambling debt.
Prosecutors sought the death penalty against Phan. But in January 2013, the 49-year-old pleaded guilty and was sentenced to two concurrent life sentences. Phan is serving his time at Dooly State Prison in Unadilla.
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