Overview
- A Forsyth County grand jury on Monday returned an indictment charging 17-year-old Sarah Lindsey Santiago with three counts of first-degree murder and one count of conspiracy for allegedly agreeing to livestream the May 18 attack and to publish the shooters' manifesto.
- Prosecutors say Santiago communicated with the two shooters on Signal, was one of three people who watched the GoPro livestream, and bought a Sonnenrad white‑supremacist patch that a shooter wore during the assault.
- Authorities built the case through a multi-agency probe that included more than 100 interviews, over 30 search warrants and a review of millions of messages before arresting Santiago last week and charging her as an adult.
- Santiago's lawyer says she is innocent and that discovery has not yet been provided; prosecutors say North Carolina law allows aiding-and-abetting charges to carry the same penalties as the killers, including life behind bars.
- Victims' families and officials say the indictment highlights how coded online networks can radicalize youth and points to likely continued investigations of other viewers and participants in the extremist subculture linked to the attack.