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Records: 16yo waited at scene while 17yo helped in murders of Knoxville brothers

Isaiah W. Grigsby, 16, "aided and abetted" Anthony Lua, 17, and James Allen, 33, in the Dec. 29 killings.

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — A 16-year-old "aided and abetted" an adult and a 17-year-old in a scheme to rob two young brothers of marijuana that resulted in their murders, court records show.

Juvenile petitions identify the 16-year-old as Isaiah W. Grigsby of Knox County and the 17-year-old as Anthony L. Lua, also of Knox County. They were being held pending hearings in Knox County Juvenile Court.

Gunmen shot and killed Joshua Haley, 19, and Christian Haley, 20, early the night of Dec. 29 at a Rocky Top Apartments residence on Bedrock Way.

Records show the robbers wanted marijuana.

RELATED: Third suspect arrested in Rocky Top Apartments shooting that killed two brothers

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Authorities have charged Grigsby and Lua each with two counts of first-degree murder and two counts of especially aggravated robbery.

Credit: WBIR
Two brothers were shot and killed Dec. 29 at Rocky Top Apartments.

Charges were filed Monday against Grigsby and Dec. 30 against Lua.

Also charged with murder and especially aggravated robbery is James Allen. He's due in Knox County General Sessions Court on Jan. 14.

After the shooting, police found Lua and Allen in the area of Interstate 640 and Old Broadway, not far from the murder scene, according to Knoxville Police Department spokesman Scott Erland. They chased and caught them on foot.

While being interviewed, both admitted they were robbing the victims with guns to get marijuana, records state.

Grigsby "came to the apartment complex with the co-defendants in their vehicle and remained at the scene while the co-defendants entered the apartment to commit the robbery," juvenile records state. He took part in a plan to rob the Haleys, records state, and that resulted in the killings.

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