Jury selection to begin in capital case in January

DECATUR TOWNSHIP — Today marks one year since a quadruple murder case shocked Lawrence County and the surrounding region.

On Oct. 11 of last year, sheriff’s deputies were called to a residence at 15497 State Route 93, where they found the bodies of Tammie McGuire, 43, her husband, Donald McGuire, 50, and her daughter, Stacey Jackson Holston, 25.

At first, a missing person announcement was issued for Jackson’s 8-year-old son, Devin Holston, a student at Rock Hill Elementary, but the boy’s body was found in the residence early the next morning.

All four victims had wounds from a shotgun, police said.

Following a two-day manhunt involving multiple agencies of law enforcement, deputies arrested suspect Arron Lawson, 23.

Devin’s father, Todd Holston, was stabbed and beaten, allegedly by Lawson in a scuffle after returning to the home, but escaped the residence. He went a neighbor’s home, along with his two-year-old son, Braxton, who was unharmed.

The search for Lawson left the community on edge for two days, resulting in multiple schools closing classes while authorities combed the woods.

Lawson faces four counts of aggravated murder, all unclassified felonies, one count attempted murder, a first-degree felony, one count of felonious assault, a second-degree felony, one count of aggravated burglary, a first-degree felony, one count of kidnapping, a first-degree felony, one count of tampering with evidence, a third-degree felony, one count of theft of a motor vehicle, a fourth-degree felony, and one count of failure to comply with  the order or signal of a police officer, a felony of the third-degree.

Lawrence County Prosecutor Brigham Anderson told The Tribune on Tuesday that jury selection in Lawson’s case will begin Jan. 30, and the trial is scheduled to run until March 1.

After jurors are selected, the trial will likely start around the middle of the first week of February and run until around March 1.

Anderson has said that the prosecution will seek the death penalty in the case.

 

Tribune Reporter Dustin Melchior also contributed to this story.