Man Allegedly Kills 5 People, Robs A Store At Gunpoint While High On Meth

A man in South Carolina has been arrested for allegedly killing five people after being high on methamphetamines for several days, Spartanburg County Sheriff said Tuesday.

The cops found four people fatally wounded at a house in Inman city in Spartanburg County at around 7:45 p.m. Sunday, the sheriff's office said, according to NBC. A fifth person was taken to a hospital where he was pronounced dead.

The accused, identified as 24-year-old James Douglas Drayton, was detained Monday in Burke County, Georgia, following a police chase, Sheriff Chuck Wright said during a press briefing,

According to Burke County deputies, Drayton robbed a convenience store at gunpoint before he was chased down by cops.

The armed offender entered the convenience store, located about 145 miles away from the murder scene, at around 4:25 a.m. Monday, and forced an employee from the kitchen to go to the cash register at gunpoint, while demanding money. As he was fleeing after robbing cash from the store, he was spotted by law enforcement and chased down.

He was reportedly driving a car he stole from the home where the alleged shooting took place. The cops believe Drayton lived at the house for two weeks, along with the five victims, Fox News Carolina reported.

The victims have been identified as Mark Allen Hewitt, 59, James Derek Baldwin, 49, Thomas Ellis Anderson, 37, Adam Daniel Morley, 32, and Roman Christean Megael Rocha, 19.

The coroner revealed four of the victims were located in different rooms in the house, which Sheriff Wright described as a "safe haven" for people using drugs.

Spartanburg County investigators traveled to Georgia and interviewed Drayton in the matter. He fully confessed to killing the five people, and committing an armed robbery using the murder weapon. He even provided specific details about all the victims. His warrants revealed he shot each victim multiple times.

Drayton also told the cops he had been using methamphetamine and hadn't slept in four days. He added he was "hearing voices."

"I don't know what that means to him," Wright said. "I know that he had been using meth, and he had been up for, like, four days. Someone that hadn't slept in four days — they're probably not thinking."

Drayton was charged with four counts of homicide and four counts of possession of a weapon during the commission of a violent crime.