One of the men accused in a quadruple homicide in Troy is now facing a new murder charge after appearing in city court Thursday afternoon.
The new first-degree murder charge against James White is the first insight about what police think may have happened on the night of December 21. The new charges allege he killed 11-year-old J.J. Myers while committing a burglary.
Myers; his sister, 5-year-old Shanise Myers; his mother, 36-year-old Shanta Myers; and her partner, 22-year-old Brandi Mells, were the victims of the homicide on Second Avenue.
Both White and Justin Mann were scheduled for a preliminary hearing Thursday, a legal requirement that must happen for felony cases without bail. Instead, both defendants were released on the original charges, which were not dropped. Mann is instead being held in jail on a parole hold, while White is being held on the new murder charge.
All of this becomes null and void if a grand jury takes action on the case, which Rensselaer County District Attorney Joel Abelove had said he planned pursuing this week.