ATLANTA, US - A man who made a distraught call to authorities last week to report he found his father and several other relatives killed was charged with their murders on Friday, police in the U.S. state of Georgia said.

Guy Heinze, 22, who was charged with eight counts of murder, told emergency services last Saturday he returned home and discovered family members beaten to death in a trailer in a mobile home park in Brunswick, Georgia.

Victims ranged in age from children to adults in their 40s. Seven were members of Heinze's family.

"Investigators with the Glynn County Police Department sought and received arrest warrants for Guy Heinze ... in connection with the murders and criminal attempt to commit murder," a police statement said.

"This arrest is the result of a compilation of physical as well as testimonial evidence."

Heinze was arrested soon after the murders and charged with evidence tampering and drug offenses before being released on bail on Thursday.

At that time, police in Glynn County did not say he was a suspect in the murders and for days released few details of how the victims died or whether there was a suspect.