SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) - Sangamon County authorities have charged two men in the New Year’s Eve 2012 killing of two people in their Springfield apartment.
Sangamon County State’s Attorney John Milhiser said 33-year-old Jermaine L. Davis of Springfield and 39-year-old Sancho G. Mitchell of Decatur were charged Friday with first-degree murder and armed robbery. He said the case is still under investigation and additional charges could be filed.
The arrests in the apparent robbery gone wrong came “through the tireless efforts of Springfield police detectives and their continued investigation of this terrible crime,” Milhiser told The (Springfield) State Journal-Register.
Larry Grice and Andrea Pocklington, both 24, were found shot to death inside Pocklington’s apartment the afternoon of Dec. 31, 2012. Pocklington, who was pregnant and a mother of three, had also been stabbed.
Davis allegedly shot Grice in the back of the head and Mitchell is accused of stabbing Pocklington in the neck and abdomen, Milhiser said.
Relatives of the victims told WICS-TV in Springfield that the arrests bring some relief, but they have unanswered questions.
“I want to know why, why did they kill him?” said Annette Grice, the mother of Larry Grice.
Andrea Pocklington’s aunt, Bridget Young, said “it’s going to be a long road” to achieve justice.
The accused men were in custody after bond was set Friday at $5 million each. The Sangamon County public defender’s office was appointed to represent them. Efforts to reach the public defender’s office Saturday were unsuccessful.
A preliminary hearing was set for March 13.
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