Christopher and Cameron Ervin had not planned on beating and stabbing their parents, at least not initially, Gwinnett County District Attorney Danny Porter said.

They did so only after failing in their first attempt to kill Zachary and Yvonne Ervin failed, Porter said.

The brothers had drugged their parents with Xanax last Friday night, according to prosecutors. After cutting a gas line, they lit a candle and left it in the fireplace, waiting outside two hours for an explosion that never happened.

Then, they went back into the family’s Snellville home, beating their mother with a rifle. The arrest warrant for Cameron Ervin, 17, said he repeatedly stabbed his father, aided by Christopher, 22.

The brothers hinted at motive, telling investigators about a “bad home life,” said Porter, adding that no such evidence has surfaced.

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The renovation of Jekyll Island's Great Dunes golf course includes nine holes designed by Walter Travis in the 1920s for the members of the Jekyll Island Club. Several holes that were part of the original layout where located along the beach and were bulldozed in the 1950s.(Photo by Austin Kaseman)

Credit: Photo by Austin Kaseman