Suspect charged in connection to Georgetown double homicide

GEORGETOWN, Texas - A suspect has been officially charged in connection to the deaths of James William Yost and Kenneth Michael Wade Clanton in December 2025.

Justin Marquez Washington has been charged with capital murder in relation to the Dec. 5 deaths of Yost and Clanton.

The backstory:

It was Friday, Dec. 5, when Georgetown Fire received a call in the retirement community of Sun City.

The tragic sequence of events began around 10:27 p.m., when Georgetown Police and Fire responded to a fire alarm and smoke at a residence at 300 Pipe Creek Lane.

On arrival, they found 76-year-old James Yost dead in a neighbor’s lawn. Inside Yost’s home, first responders found his housemate, 33-year-old Kenneth Clanton, dead as well.

Both men were found with what Georgetown PD called "wounds consistent with a cutting instrument."

A day after the homicides, 28-year-old Justice Washington was taken into custody as a person of interest. He was found inside Yost’s car after assaulting an employee at a Domino’s.

At the time of their deaths, Washington was living inside the home with Clanton and Yost. According to Clanton’s sisters, all three men were involved in a relationship together.

They say one of the men in the house wasn’t approving of the relationship but wouldn’t elaborate on whom.

According to Kenneth’s sisters, Yost and Kenneth had been living on and off together for about five years. They say Yost was supporting Kenneth in his goal of becoming a truck driver.

The Clanton family said Kenneth would often bring Washington with him on his visits back home.

Dig deeper:

Washington faces other charges related to an incident at a Georgetown Domino's.

Court documents detail the attack on Saturday, Dec. 7, just before noon.

Georgetown police say that Washington went to the Domino's at the corner of Scenic Drive and University to pick up a pizza.

Store manager Pablo Rico and another employee were preparing for the lunch rush when Washington came in and ordered a pizza.

"He looked like he was on something, like on something," said Pablo Rico.

However, shortly after leaving the store, Washington turned around and came back in. He told Rico he came back wanting plates. Rico said Washington seemed to freeze up, then attacked them.

"He kind of lifted his shirt up. You see a little metal hook popping out of his pants. And he pulls it out and starts swinging it, so I put my hand out, and he hits me right here. I grab it from him and take it away from him, and he starts grabbing dough trays and swinging at us, throwing at us. We kept telling him, go away, get out of here, go away man, what are you doing? And he kept yelling get out of my way, get out of my way. At some point, we let him do what he wanted to do. He opened the fridge and looked in there, and walked away," said Rico.

Washington then drove to a parking lot a few blocks away, leaving behind what police described as a tire iron.

Police later found Washington in the Dos Salsas Tex Mex restaurant parking lot less than a mile away from the Domino's. He was taken to a hospital for evaluation, then to the Williamson County Jail.

He has been charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, assault causing bodily injury, and unauthorized use of a motor vehicle.

What's next:

Washington is currently in the Williamson County Jail on a collective $650,000 bond for the three charges. 

The Georgetown Police Department says evidence gathered, including video footage and other physical evidence, supported Washington's capital murder charge.

Three of Washington's charges are felonies, while the fourth is a misdemeanor.