The lone survivor of a murderous attack that left four of his family members dead recalls how he was able to survivor one of the most traumatic night’s of his life.
Todd Holston said that on Wednesday, October 11, something felt off when his wife, Stacey, didn’t answer the phone as he made his way back home from work.
Trusting his instincts, he phoned his wife’s parents who agreed to check-in on her. Arriving at the house, they made a grizzly discovery.
Todd Holston (right) is the lone survivor of a murderous attack that left four of his family members dead Wednesday evening
Suspect Arron Lawson, 23, is escorted into the Lawrence County Courthouse, Friday, Oct. 13, 2017
‘(Stacy’s mother) screamed, “Oh my God” and I heard a gunshot, and the phone hung up,’ Houlston remembered during an interview with the Columbus Dispatch.
After a two day manhunt, police apprehended Aaron Lawson, 23, and charged him with one count of aggravated murder and three counts of murder in the shooting deaths of 28-year-old Stacey Jackson, 50-year-old Donald McGuire, 43-year-old Tammie McGuire and Jackson’s son, 7-year-old Devin Holston.
But before authorities arrested Lawson on Friday, Holston would come face-to-face with a man police say executed a savage massacre against his family.
At 7pm, Holston arrived home to find his door ajar and Lawson inside, a man he had known for the past 10 years, wielding a pocket knife and appearing ‘possessed.’
Shorter, and half Holston’s 300 pounds, Lawson lashed out, stabbing the family man at least 10 times about the neck, temple and arms.
Lawson (left) is accused of killing 28-year-old Stacey Jackson, 50-year-old Donald McGuire, 43-year-old Tammie McGuire and Jackson’s son, 7-year-old Devin Holston (pictured right)
‘He was quick,’ Holston remembered, but ‘I beat the living crap out of him.’
After a short struggle, Holston managed to wrestle the knife away from Lawson and lock himself inside the home. It was only then, however, that he discovered the bodies.
The suspect had known 28-year-old Stacey Jackson (pictured) and her family for years
‘I don’t know why he did what he did,’ Holston told the Dispatch. ‘He was down at my house almost every day. We’d make him meals.’
Holston recalled during the knife attack that Lawson told him: ‘There are people breaking into homes and I thought that you were one of them.’
‘His whole body shook like he snapped out of something. He looked like he was possessed.’
Holston managed to save his two-year son, Braxton, whisking him away from danger as he flagged neighbors for help.
Lawson was arrested and taken into custody in southern Ohio on Friday after fleeing into woods near the trailer where Holston’s family was murdered.
Lawrence County Sheriff Jeff Lawless said that Lawson is an outdoorsman and hunter who liked being in the woods, but ‘I think he was just plumb worn out from being out in the elements’ during a manhunt that spanned two cool nights.
Holston was stabbed over 10 times during a fight with the suspected killer (Pictured: 50-year-old Donald McGuire and 43-year-old Tammie McGuire)
Brooke McCain, left, and Brandon McGuire, right, break down during a media conference on the deaths of four of their family members Friday, Oct. 13, 2017
A county prosecutor said on Saturday he’ll pursue the death penalty against Lawson if he’s found guilty of the homicides.
The suspect was arrested roughly 12 miles (19 kilometers) south of where authorities found Holston’s wife, son and in-laws.
Around 12:30 a.m. Thursday, deputies spotted Lawson in a blue truck in Ironton, about 15 miles south of where the victims were found, the sheriff said.
Deputies chased Lawson before he crashed his vehicle into a ditch and ran into the woods, the sheriff said.
A few relatives of the victims said after the arrest that they had seen no sign or warning of such violence by Lawson, who lived up the road from the trailer home.
Lawson, according to The Dispatch, was a relative of Holston’s in-laws and had been familiar with the family for years.
A county prosecutor said on Saturday he’ll pursue the death penalty against Lawson if he’s found guilty of the homicides.