UPDATE October 3, 2024
The Lee County Sheriff's Office says both women who were stabbed have died.
Original Reporting (September 23rd, 2024)
The Lee County Sheriff's Office says two women were stabbed on Friday in Tice - killing one of them.
Deputies say the women were attacked during a "narcotics transaction".
Around noon Friday, LCSO responded to a "distressing 911 call" on Montgomery Avenue near Birmingham Street.
The caller, a woman, said she had been attacked during a robbery.
According to a police report, one woman was found with multiple stab wounds on the couch and the other on the kitchen floor.
They were rushed to the hospital in critical condition. One woman passed away from her injuries.
Deputies say they found a broken pick on the couch next to a victim.
According to detectives, two men were in the neighborhood around the time of the attack and were seen quickly leaving.
Deputies identified 45-year-old Shad Loveless and 21-year-old Zachary Williams as persons of interest through surveillance footage, license plate readers and cell phone records.
When investigators started going through one of the victim's phones, they learned a narcotics transaction was scheduled to happen at the home, deputies say.
However, detectives say the suspects planned to rob the women during the drug deal.
As detectives searched the crime scene, a report says they found "vacuumed sealed bags have been discovered in the kitchen, which is consistent with marijuana sales."
Deputies say they also found a scale and evidence of narcotics sales, along with a small bag of mushrooms.
On September 22, deputies arrested Williams near his home on Scott Avenue, which was about one mile away from the crime scene. He also had an active felony warrant for burglary.
Loveless was arrested following a traffic stop.
They're both charged with second-degree murder, armed home invasion robbery and aggravated battery with a deadly weapon.
"My team worked around the clock to put the men responsible for this incident behind bars," said Lee County Sheriff Carmine Marceno. "My thoughts and prayers are with the victims’ families and I hope the arrests bring them some closure."
