15-Year-Old Boy Arrested After Adoptive Parents Are Found Murdered In Virginia Home

A 15-year-old adopted boy allegedly murdered his parents inside their Virginia home with either a knife or a hammer, police said.

The Chesapeake Police Department discovered the two dead bodies at around 6:30 a.m. Tuesday while responding to a call about people being hurt at the Homecrest mobile home community in the city's South Norfolk neighborhood.

Following the gruesome discovery, police said it appeared as though the deceased couple's 15-year-old boy murdered them with "a knife and/or a hammer," according to WTOC11.

The circumstances that led to the murders were not immediately clear. People in the neighborhood who had known the victims, identified as Donna Daugherty, 61, and John Daugherty, 60, were in disbelief.

One of the neighbors, Eddie Gray, described them as devoted parents. "I mean, I just can't believe this even happened. I'm still shocked by it," Gray told the outlet.

"They're really nice people. They wave at us, we wave at them. I just can't believe that happened," another neighbor told 13News Now. "It's a little bit close to home. The Walmart down the road was bad enough and now this is down the street. I'm not okay with this."

The deceased couple had a total of three adopted children, according to another neighbor, who remained anonymous. Apart from the 15-year-old boy, the couple was adoptive parents to two girls who were reportedly seen outside the house when police officers began investigating the double murders.

"Somewhere down the line, someone they knew had the kids and they just adopted them from somebody else," the neighbor told the outlet.

The neighbor said she spoke to the Daugherty couple just a day before she woke up to find police officers in the area.

"They were not okay yesterday morning. I just hugged them and told them if they needed anything, I would be right here," the neighbor continued. "How could this happen? How could any of this happen anywhere, much less, right here... Everyone was normal. We're all normal. Stuff like this is just crazy."

The Chesapeake Police Department did not release further details and said the incident remains under investigation, Tri-City Herald reported.

The teenage boy was arrested and is being charged with two counts of aggravated murder.