RICHMOND, Va. (WTVR) - Neighbors living around Southside Plaza said they felt quite safe around their homes both day and night. But that changed Wednesday with the discovery of a body behind a local business.
Wednesday evening Richmond Police announced that brothers Troy and Harley McMahan, both of the 300 block of East Belt Boulevard had been arrested and charged with conspiracy to commit murder. Both suspects were taken into custody without incident. Additional charges are pending.
The pair is accused of killing 52-year-old David Burnett, of the 3500 block of Lawson Street.
In the hours following the body's discovery, bloodhounds sniffed for evidence while homicide investigators canvassed the area. The scene was an early morning jolt to neighbors living near Richmond’s Southside Plaza.
Anthony Jackson was shocked. “I was scared. I was like WOW! I cannot believe it,” he said.
Just after 8:30 Wednesday morning Burnett's body was found in the 300 block of Belt Boulevard. He'd been stabbed multiple times, police said.
“That is why we’re going around checking the area and checking dumpsters,” Gene Lepley with Richmond Police said. “The assailant may have been trying to get rid of some clothing he or she had.”
Investigators think Burnett and his killer fought for quite some time late Tuesday night.
Veronica Loney lives a few homes away from the murder scene and it has affected her. “I usually cut through this way to catch the bus at the Plaza, but not no more,” she said.
Burnett's body was discovered behind Southside Tire. The manager did not want to speak to CBS 6. He and his employees kept working while investigators and the medical examiner surrounded his business.
The murder took place in a mix of a residential and industrial neighborhood and went down just a few hundred yards from the office of the Fraternal Order of Police.
