Beaufort County Sheriff’s Investigators are currently on scene investigating an apparent murder suicide. The Sheriff’s Office was called about a domestic situation this morning at 48 Austin Rd in Aurora. No names are being released at this time pending notification of next of kin. The investigation is ongoing.

Update

01/22/2020

The Sheriff’s Office can now confirm that 31 yr. old Craig Lamont Sawyer and 25 yr. old Alisha Marie Morgan were found shot to death inside the home at 48 Austin Rd. Investigators learned that Sawyer and Morgan have a child in common. The child was not at the Austin Rd. home at the time of the shooting.

The Sheriff’s Office Communications Center spoke to Morgan’s mother at 8:35 am. She reported that Sawyer, believed to be in possession of a gun, had gone to Morgan’s place of employment and forced her to leave with him. Deputies responded to the Austin Road address where they found both Sawyer’s and Morgan’s cars parked in the yard. Deputies were able to speak to Sawyer through a closed and locked door but he refused to let them in his house or allow Morgan to come out. After about 1 hour and 40 minutes Sawyer stopped communicating with Deputies. Seconds later multiple shots were heard inside the house. When Deputies breached the door, they found Sawyer in the hallway suffering from a single gunshot wound and Morgan in a nearby bedroom suffering from multiple gunshot wounds. EMS personnel pronounced both dead at the scene. The investigation into a motive is still ongoing.