Firefighters found 15-year-old Amanda Cook lying on the ground outside the burning home Friday, crying for help. She had been shot, stabbed and her throat was slashed.
The four bodies were discovered inside a doublewide mobile home on a dirt road outside Carthage, a town of fewer than 2,000 residents about 60 miles southwest of Raleigh.
Moore County sheriff's deputies arrested Mario Lynn Phillips, 35, at his mother's home across the street. Witnesses told investigators they saw Phillips flee in a vehicle that was found a short distance away, said Chief Deputy Neil Godfrey.
A few hours later, officers arrested Sean Maurice Ray, 24, of Carthage, and Renee Yvette McLaughlin, 19, of Spring Lake. All three were charged with four counts of first-degree-murder, one count of assault with a deadly weapon, and one count of first-degree arson. They were being held without bail.
Fredrick Ray said his brother, Sean, called the home they share with their mother early Saturday to say he was in jail.
``He said, `Mario, he shot those four guys. I cut the girl, that was it,''' Fredrick Ray said in a telephone interview Saturday. Fredrick Ray said his brother did not say what prompted the slayings.
Telephone calls to Phillips' home went unanswered Saturday. McLaughlin did not have a listed telephone number.
Investigators have not discussed a possible motive, but neighbors said they have complained to authorities about drug activity in the area.
Cook was in critical condition Saturday at Moore Regional Hospital in Pinehurst, spokeswoman Gretchen Kelly said.
The dead were identified as Eddie Lynn Ryals, 21, who lived in the burned house; Joseph Allen Harden, 19, of Vass; and Carl Garrison Justice, 18, and Harvey Darrell Hobson, 20, both of Carthage.
