Thursday, September 2, 2010

AUGUSTA, Ga.--- A 55-year-old Beech Island Man is now wanted for the murders of two women in Aiken County, along with the robbery and beating of a store owner in Augusta.

Franklin Wright has been charged with the August 11 murders of Yana Peters Schenker and Shalamar Nicole Byrd, Aiken County Sheriff's Capt. Charles D. Barranco said in an e-mail Thursday afternoon.

Investigators say Wright set fires to cover up the deaths of both women and is facing an arson charge. Yana Peters Schenker was found dead in her home after firefighters were called out to a house fire on Paddocks Bend.

That same night crews responded to a brush fire off Storm Branch Road and found Byrd's body. Investigators weren't able to identify her until a family member recognized a sketch of the victim.

Wright is also wanted in connection with the beating and robbery of a convenience store owner Wednesday night in Augusta. The woman worked at Lotto Express on 13th Street and is now in critical condition.

Wright is wanted on charges of aggravated assault, robbery by force and kidnapping in the case, Capt. Scott Peebles said in an e-mail Thursday afternoon.

Dispatchers got the call around 10:12 p.m. from an employee at the nearby Huddle House who found the victim, 54-year-old Jennie Hope, injured inside the store.

Investigators initially thought the suspect was a homeless man who's first name is "Jonathan". They said Hope had employed the man to do odd jobs around the business for about the last three months.

Information that the man was homeless was incorrect, Peebles said.

Hope was known to close her doors between 8:00-8:30pm even though she did not close for business until around 9:00pm. People in the neighborhood said for the last hour of business, Hope often opened her door for people she knew. Investigators confirm the victim's keys were still in the door at the crime scene.

Investigators tell News 12 the attack was not captured on camera, but we're told Hope was "brutally attacked" according to one violent crimes investigator. Initially, the call was dispatched as a shooting because of the nature of Hope's head injury, but we've now learned she was badly beaten in the head and on her face.

We're also told the suspect can be seen grabbing money from the register and running out of the store after assaulting the victim.