16-year-old daughter, man arrested in Tennessee for triple murder of NC family

Three people were found dead in a western North Carolina home on Thursday. Investigators say the victims are a married couple in their 40s, along with the husband’s mother.

The victims are now identified as 41-year-old Travis Grant, 42-year-old Kimberly Grant, and 66-year-old Sharon Harwood Grant.

Deputies say one of the suspects, 16-year-old Star Grant, was related to them.

“The information we received, she is the daughter of the couple and the granddaughter of the older deceased person,” Buncombe County Sheriff’s Office Major John Ledford said.

Both Grant and a second suspect, 28-year-old Devan Loving, face three counts of first-degree murder, along with a charge of felony conspiracy to commit murder. They were arrested Friday in Tennessee.

“They’re charged with a Class A Felony that has potential in the state of North Carolina, either the death penalty or life imprisonment,” Ledford said.

Around 7:15 p.m. Thursday night, deputies conducted a welfare check at the Fairview home after getting a call from a relative.

But Sheriff Quentin Miller says by the time deputies got to the scene, both suspects were gone.

“Detectives discovered the 16-year-old, Star Grant, was missing from the home and received information she may be in the area of Gatlinburg, Tennessee with Devan Loving,” Miller said.

It wasn’t until Friday morning that those suspects were found.

“They were able to locate them shortly before 6 a.m. Friday morning,” Miller said.

Thursday’s deadly discovery comes after two other welfare check calls earlier this week.

“The deputies responded out there, went to the residence,” Buncombe County Sheriff’s Captain Dustan Auldredge said. “They did not develop enough information to force entry into the residence. We have to be able to articulate an exigency there, and the information at that time just did not exist.”

So far, it’s not clear what the suspects were doing in Tennessee.

“That’s what the investigation determined while they were in Gatlinburg. The two defendants, who are charged, are both county residents,” Ledford said.

As for how long they were there for, Auldredge said “we believe that they were there for more than a few days, and that’s still under investigation. The total length of time.”

The 16-year-old daughter will be tried as an adult despite her age. The nature of her relationship with the 28-year-old man is still not known at this time. 

They will face an extradition hearing in Tennessee before being brought back to Buncombe County.