The horrific story of a family found slaughtered in their home took a strange turn when a reporter stumbled upon the bloody murder weapon earlier today.
A writer for the Atlanta journal newspaper, found the bloody knife on the patio of the Lithonia home where 3 people — a woman and two children — were brutally stabbed to death Sunday evening.
According to DeKalb sheriff’s records, Eugene Quatron McCoy, 21, was booked into the jail at 4:24 a.m. Monday on three murder charges. The records at the jail indicate he lived at the house in the 7100 block of Rockland Road.
The house had been thoroughly searched by DeKalb police, who somehow missed the bloody knife lying under a chair on the patio.
Incredibly, a DeKalb County Police spokeswoman said she did not know if the blood soaked knife was related to the deadly stabbings.
Broken glass from a window lay scattered on the patio near where the knife was found. A slashed window screen lay discarded on the steps.
According to the AJC, a woman survived the carnage inside the house. The woman managed to escape by running through the woods to a home in a nearby subdivision to call for help. She was transported to a local hospital where she is listed in critical condition.
The dead woman is believed to be McCoy’s mother. The identifies of all 4 victims are being withheld until the next of kin is notified.
Police had been called to the home on six previous occasions to arrest McCoy for allegedly violating stay away orders. He was last arrested on January 8 on a criminal trespass charge, and was released from the jail on March 16.
Photos: Rhonda Cook, rcook@ajc.com and DeKalb Sheriff’s Office
