Alabama college principal arrested and charged in 2013 Georgia murder case

An Alabama middle school principal has been arrested and charged in connection with the deaths of three people in Georgia more than a decade ago.

The victims were found Jan. 13, 2013, after a Union City, Ga., officer saw an abandoned 2010 Dodge Charger in Fulton County, the Clayton County Sheriff’s Office said in a news release. press this month.

There were no arrests in the case until last week, when the sheriff’s office received murder warrants for Keante Harris, Kenneth Thompson, Kevin Harris and Darrell Harris. They were all arrested in three states, the sheriff’s office said.

Keante Harris, 45, worked at McAdory Middle School in McCalla, Alabama, as an assistant principal, NBC affiliate WVTM in Birmingham reported. Jefferson County Schools Superintendent Dr. Walter Gonsoulin told the news station in a statement before the murder charges were announced that they were still “gathering facts about the specifics of this situation “.

“However, initial indications are that the charges are not related to this individual’s employment in Jefferson County Schools,” Gonsoulin said.

NBC News reached out to the school district for comment Tuesday. It is unclear whether Keante Harris has obtained an attorney.

Authorities said the investigation into the 2013 triple murder determined the victims were “tortured and murdered” in Clayton County and abandoned in the nearby town of Fulton.

Detectives believed the victims were “lured to a residence” in Jonesboro, Ga., and forced inside at gunpoint, the sheriff’s office said.

“They were later loaded into the back seat of a Dodge Charger and taken to Fulton County,” authorities said.

Keante Harris was arrested Wednesday in Alabama on a court warrant, according to online jail records. All four suspects face three counts of intentional murder, the sheriff’s office said.