Casey James Lawhorn found dead after 'posting chilling Facebook confession to killing mother and friend'

Found dead by police: Casey James Lawhorn
Jasper County Sheriff's Department
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A murder suspect who allegedly confessed to killing his mother and friend in a chilling Facebook post has been found dead, US police said.

Casey James Lawhorn, 23, died from an apparently self-inflicted gunshot wound and was found by police in Mississippi on Monday morning.

Lawhorn had allegedly detailed in a post on his Facebook page how he shot his mother Vi Lawhorn and friend Avery Gaines on Sunday morning in his East Ridge, Tennessee, home.

Police said the Facebook post was authentic and that Lawhorn was wanted for committing a double homicide.

Mississippi Public Safety spokesman Warren Strain said the man's body was found Monday morning in Vossburg, a community about 330 miles southwest of East Ridge. Lawhorn "used social media to announce he had murdered his mother and friend," Strain said in a statement.

In the Facebook post, Lawhorn detailed how he shot his friend in the head while he was sleeping and went on to shoot his mother three times.

Mr Lawhorn said he carried out the attack with a “stolen .22 LR rifle calibre” at 1.20am.

The Facebook post said he then proceeded to steal heroin and cash from the pockets of his victims.

In a bizarre statement at the end of his post, Mr Lawhorn said he spared the lives of his pets.

“I didn't hurt our dog or cat, in case anyone was wondering about the animals," he said.

A SWAT team from the Jasper County Sheriff’s department discovered Lawhorn’s car on Sunday evening. His body was found the following morning.

East Ridge Police Assistant Police Chief Stan Allen told ABC News that Lawhorn contacted the police after carrying out the attack.

Allen said: "The suspect called us and identified himself and talked to our dispatchers for some time."

"He told them that he had committed the crime and that he was going to a location north of our city to find a secluded spot to kill himself."

Allen said officers forced entry into Lawhorn’s home and found the victim’s bodies whom they identified as Lawhorn’s mother and a young man.

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