CHARLOTTE, N.C.,None — A Charlotte judge told two men charged with killing a family of three that they will not be getting out of jail on bond anytime soon.
Lorenzo White and Linny Barcliff both appeared in a Mecklenburg County courtroom Thursday afternoon, the day after they were arrested in connection with the killings of Lorenzo Graves, his wife, Cheryl, and their 4-year old daughter, Oznola.
Judge Theo Nixon told White and Barcliff that they are not entitled to bond on the murder charges.
White and Barcliff appeared in court half an hour apart, so deputies could be sure the two did not communicate about the case. Prosecutors expect to indict a third suspect, Joseph Amous, on Monday, and he made his first appearance on a conspiracy charge by video link from the jail.
Outside the courtroom, the case has grabbed community attention.
A makeshift memorial continued to grow Thursday at the front doorstep of the apartment off Sharon Lakes Road where police found the bodies of the Graves family on Tuesday.
"It's just a sad story, and it touched me," Letisha Washington said after she and her 7-year-old daughter had put a favorite stuffed animal at the doorstep.
"First of all, it grabs you. It grabs your attention," said Judy Williams with Mothers of Murdered Offspring, a group that works with victims' families and tries to focus attention on Charlotte homicides.
This case, she said, may be a call to action.
"I'm hoping that our laws kick in here and they get what they deserve," Williams said.
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