By ROBIN SHANNON

Staff Reporter

HAHNVILLE — Twenty-six hours after announcing they had a suspect responsible for two murders in the St. Rose area, authorities in St. Charles said the 18-year-old accused killer had been apprehended.

Capt. Pat Yoes, public information officer for the Sheriff’s Office, said Donald Harris Jr., 327 2nd St., St. Rose, turned himself in Friday afternoon at the Tangipahoa Parish Sheriff’s Office. Harris is suspected of killing 70-year-old Hilda Warren inside her home in August of 2007 and is also the alleged perpetrator in a shooting that claimed the life of Deshawn Davis, 26, on November 14.

Yoes said Harris was booked with two counts of first-degree murder after turning himself in to deputies in Tangipahoa just after 4:30 p.m. Friday following a news conference in St. Charles on Thursday where authorities announced Harris’s involvement in the crimes.

Sgt. Dwayne Lagrange, a Sheriff’s Office spokesman, said Harris was booked into the jail at Tangipahoa and was transferred back to St. Charles sometime over the weekend. Harris was arraigned Monday morning, where judges declared he will be held without bond.

In addition to Harris’ arrest, Lagrange said deputies also detained a 23-year-old St. Rose man Friday as part of the investigation into Warren’s murder.

Bruce M. Christie, whose address matches Harris’, was booked with an obstruction of justice charge after evidence revealed that he had provided inconsistent statements to detectives investigating Warren’s death.

Lagrange said Christie, who is Harris’s uncle, was allegedly part of phone conversations with Harris around the time of Warren’s murder, but Christie told investigators he had not had any contact with his nephew during that time.

“We believe he is still withholding some information pertaining to the case,” said Lagrange. “We have reason to believe he spoke with Mr. Harris around that time. We are still actively investigating this case.”

Christie was booked into the Nelson Coleman correctional facility where he is being held on $100,000 bond.