ORANGEBURG, S.C. - The Latest on the investigation into the slayings of four people in July, 2015 in rural South Carolina (all times local):

3 p.m.

A man charged in a quadruple slaying in South Carolina says he's not a murderer and would never hurt anyone. Robert Lee Bailey appeared before an Orangeburg County magistrate late Thursday. Authorities say he's one of three men charged in the July 2015 killings of four people outside the community of Holly Hill.

The other two were arrested this week in Alabama and should be returned to South Carolina in the next few days.

The 37-year-old Bailey, charged with murder and other counts, appeared before Magistrate Don West in an orange prison jumpsuit and with his hands shackled.

The judge said he couldn't set bond on a murder charge and that a circuit judge would have to set bond. He also gave Bailey a form to request a public defender.

____

1 p.m

A South Carolina sheriff says that after more than a year and thousands of hours of investigation, three people face charges in the July, 2015 slayings of four people at a home in rural South Carolina.

Orangeburg County Sheriff Leroy Ravenell told reporters Thursday that two suspects were arrested this week in Baldwin County, Alabama, and the third was arrested in Orangeburg County, about 35 miles south of Columbia. All are from the Holly Hill area where the slayings occurred.

The sheriff said all three face murder and other charges. He said 27-year-old Derrick Warren Coleman and 35-year-old Anthony Jermaine Scott were arrested in Alabama where Coleman is originally from.

Ravenell said the two are expected to be brought back to South Carolina in the next few days.

The third man arrested, 37-year-old Robert Lee Bailey, was to have a bond hearing later Thursday in Orangeburg.

___

7:20 a.m.

A South Carolina sheriff plans a news conference to discuss developments in an unsolved case in which four people, including two teenagers, were shot and killed in July 2015.

A task force of local, state and federal investigators was formed last year to investigate the deaths. An announcement says Orangeburg County Sheriff Leroy Ravenell plans to meet with reporters at noon Thursday.

Authorities say that 17-year-old Shamekia Sanders, 14-year-old Tamara Perry and 28-year-old Krystal Hutto all died of bullet wounds to the head in the July 15, 2015, shootings at a home outside of Holly Hill.

Fifty-year-old Jerome Butler also was killed, while an 8-year-old boy was critically injured.

Ravenell has said that drugs were being sold from the house where the slayings occurred.

___

This story has been corrected to reflect Bailey's age is 37.

News from © The Associated Press, 2016