Brothers Accused of Trying to Kill Parents Described as 'Nice Kids'

Shocked neighbors and friends said the duo were respectful.

ByABC News
September 9, 2015, 5:06 PM

— -- Friends and neighbors of two brothers who allegedly tried to kill their parents in their upscale Atlanta-area home over the weekend have painted a different picture of the jailed duo.

Christopher Ervin, 22, and Cameron Ervin, 17, were arrested and each charged with aggravated assault and arson, after their mother and her husband were found bleeding and badly beaten up Saturday in the family house in Snellville, Georgia, according to police.

Officers found Christopher Ervin in a second-floor bathroom and Cameron Ervin was arrested as he left the garage, according to a police report, which also noted that Cameron Ervin allegedly told an officer, "I tried to kill my f****** parents. Who does that?"

In a recording of a chilling 911 call released Tuesday, their mother, Yvonne Ervin, 50, identified the two siblings as the ones who attacked her and her husband Zachary Ervin, 50.

"They attacked me and my husband. ... Please hurry," she said during the call.

Next-door neighbor Clint Miller said the accusations against the Ervin brothers were the last thing he'd expect to hear about them.

"That would be the last house that I would expect something like that to happen. ... Which is really why we're all shocked here. ... Very nice kids, I can't stress that enough," Miller told 11Alive.com. "Those kids are extremely nice kids."

However, in a news release today, the Gwinnett County Police Department said: "It is apparent that the brothers launched a plot to kill both of their parents."

Sylvia Johnson, a neighbor who said she'd known the Ervin family for 15 years, said that the brothers were respectful.

"Never any problems with them, whatsoever," she told ABC affiliate WSB-TV.

Cameron Ervin's friends also said they were in a state of shock. "I couldn't imagine Cameron doing something like that," one friend told WSB-TV.

Neighbors said both young men had played football and had graduated high school. The University of Charleston in West Virginia confirmed today to ABC News that Christopher Ervin had attended the school for one year but that he'd left in 2012.

"There has been no further known contact with him since that time," the school said in an email.

During the 911 call, Yvonne Ervin said she didn't know why her sons had attacked her.

"I don't know what's going on. I don't know why they've done this. I really don't," she said.

Gwinnett County police said today that in the last year, there had been no previous domestic disturbance calls made from the residence.

"There does not appear to be a history at the location of domestic disputes or violence between any of the parties that live at the address," police said in a statement.

Yvonne Ervin was treated and released from the hospital while husband Zachary Ervin remained hospitalized today.

Authorities said a motive is still unknown.

A preliminary hearing for Cameron Ervin and Christopher Ervin has been scheduled for Friday at the Gwinnett County Detention Center.

Tom Clegg and Mark Yun, the court-appointed attorneys for Christopher Ervin and Cameron Ervin, respectively, could not be reached immediately for comment by ABC News.