3rd suspect transferred to Aiken County in triple-murder of teens

AIKEN, S.C. (WRDW/WAGT) - Aiken County now has custody of the third suspect in the arrested in the slaying of three teenagers over the summer in Aiken.

Suspect Alvin Artis IV, was booked into Aiken County jail on Friday on three counts of murder in connection with the June 26 slayings on Wadley Drive in Aiken County. Artis remained in jail Monday morning.

Artis had been arrested Nov. 30 in Oklahoma, but has now been transferred to South Carolina to face charges in the murders of 17-year-old Willie Garrett IV and 16-year-olds Ivan Perry and Cameron Carroll.

Garrett and Perry were found dead at the scene, and Carroll died later at a hospital.

A family member of Carroll and Garrett says they were cousins.

The U.S. Marshals Fugitive Task Force and the Lawton Police Department arrested Artis around 10:40 a.m. Nov. 30 Central time. Artis was taken to the Comanche County Detention Center, where he will be held pending an extradition hearing.

Two additional suspects, Xabian U. Bailey, 18, and a 15-year old, were arrested June 26 and June 30 respectively.

The slaying is among dozens that have claimed more than 60 lives since spring, affecting communities large and small on both sides of the Savannah River. Authorities have blamed much of the problem on gangs, and many of the victims, like those on Wadley Drive, have been young men and teenagers.

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