BLYTHEWOOD – Richland County Sheriff’s Department reported that the juveniles have been located; they are safe and in good health.
The Richland County Sheriff’s Department is searching for Anastasia Bradley, 9, Naomi Bradley, 12, and Lacee Johnson, 10.
Anastasia, Naomi, and Lacee were last seen on Thursday, Oct. 23, 2025, around 8 p.m. in the area of Slippery Elm Circle, Blythewood. The three children were reported missing this morning around 7 a.m., according to the Sheriff’s Department.
Lacee’s hairstyle is two ponytails. It is unknown at this time what the children were last seen wearing, according to authorities.
RCSD investigators say they are concerned for the girls’ safety due to their ages. An incident report is not available at this time.
Anyone that may have captured the
children’s direction of travel in the neighborhood on camera, please call
(803)252-2911 to have a deputy respond and collect the video. If anyone has
seen these children or have any information regarding their whereabouts, call
911 or RCSD at (803)576-3000.
WINNSBORO – The Fairfield County Sheriff’s Office (FCSO) is
actively investigating a shots fired incident in Winnsboro, which led to the
apprehension of two juvenile suspects. Authorities are still searching for a
third individual believed to be involved.
The incident unfolded on Thursday, Oct. 16, when an
anonymous caller reported observing three Black males, all dressed in black,
passing a gun among themselves, followed by a gunshot near a church located at
370 Golf Course Rd. The report was corroborated by an off-duty FCSO lieutenant
residing in the area, who also heard a gunshot.
A nearby deputy responded to the scene. Upon arrival, the
deputy observed three teenage males in dark clothing fleeing through a backyard
on 6th Street after noticing his marked patrol vehicle. Emergency lights were
activated, and additional units were requested to establish a perimeter around
the area to locate the males.
FCSO K9 units played a crucial role in locating the
suspects. K9 Rayden, alongside his handler Cpl. Ernst, successfully tracked and
found one juvenile suspect, identified as Juvenile #1, hiding under an
abandoned house. This individual was secured and taken into custody.
Shortly thereafter, a second suspect, Juvenile #2, was
located hiding on 6th Street by K9 Dano, handled by Lt. Cox, and other deputies.
Juvenile #2 was found to be in possession of a Glock .45 9mm handgun, several
black plastic baggies containing substances believed to be crack cocaine and powder
cocaine, pistol rounds, and an additional magazine. He was transported to the
Fairfield County Sheriff’s Office for processing.
Investigators at the church parking lot discovered multiple
shell casings, including spent pistol and rifle casings, as well as an unfired
rifle round, all collected as evidence.
Juvenile #2 faces multiple charges, including Unlawful Carry
of a Pistol (underage), Possession with Intent to Distribute Crack Cocaine
(6.26g), and Possession with Intent to Distribute Cocaine (4.76g). Juvenile #1
was released to his mother and will be petitioned at a later date for Breach of
Peace (High and Aggravated) and Unlawful Carry of a Pistol (underage).
K9 units continued their search for the third outstanding
suspect in the Holly Street area but were unsuccessful in locating him. This
suspect is described as a Black male in his late teens to early 20s, wearing
dark clothing.
This incident remains under active investigation by the
Fairfield County Sheriff’s Office. Authorities urge anyone with further
information to contact the FCSO at 803-635-4141 or leave an anonymous tip on
their tip line at 803-815-4191.
CHESTER COUNTY – The Chester County Sheriff’s Office, the
South Carolina Law Enforcement Division (SLED), and the FBI are looking for
Carlton Wallace Dixon, 45.
A $15,000 reward is being offered for information leading to
Dixon’s arrest.
Dixon is wanted for Murder, Possession of a Weapon During a
Violent Crime, and Possession of a Firearm or Ammunition by a Person Convicted
of Certain Crimes. Dixon is accused of shooting Elijahwan D. Boulware, 29, on
Flint Street in Chester County, SC, on June 17, 2024. Anyone with information
on Dixon’s whereabouts should contact: SLED at (866) 472-8477 or email
tips@sled.sc.gov.; email Chester County Sheriff’s Office at lpringle@chesterso.com;
or email the FBI at kmwheeler2@fbi.gov
BLYTHEWOOD – Last week five more indictments for public corruption were handed down to the woman Mayor Sloan Griffin hired last year to be the Town’s Deputy Administrator at an annual salary of $90,000.
Former Williamsburg County Supervisor Tiffany Cooks was
already under criminal investigation by SLED (South Carolina Enforcement Division)
when Griffin hired her last Nov. 7, 2024, to fill a job she had not applied for
and that was not funded in the budget by council.
After The Voice published information about her criminal
investigation, Cooks decided not to take the job.
In a public Facebook post on Dec. 5, 2024, Griffin
criticized his fellow council members and the media for publicizing Cooks’
investigation, saying their claims were unfounded.
“Dr. Cooks, along with her family, friends, and church
family, endured unwarranted suffering due to claims made by certain members of
the Council and the media.” Griffin said those “baseless accusations created an
atmosphere of judgment and speculation.”
To that end, Griffin continued over the next three months to
fight to rehire Cooks, even requesting an attorney general’s opinion and
issuing Executive order #3 to force her reinstatement (with back pay) to the
position.
Cooks even attended a town council meeting during that time.
Griffin’s efforts to rehire Cooks were eventually blocked
three months later, after the other four councilmembers won a lawsuit for
temporary and permanent injunctions against Griffin’s executive order to
re-hire Cooks. Cooks was indicted by the Attorney General’s office on March 17,
charging her with public corruption that included embezzlement and money
laundering in a previous job as Williamsburg County Supervisor.
Last week, Cooks was indicted on more charges of public
corruption associated with her Williamsburg County job, bringing the total
indictments to 30. The investigation is ongoing.
LAKE MONTICELLO – Desmond James, 24, has been arrested in connection with a shooting that occurred on Monday, Oct. 13 in the Lake Monticello area of Fairfield County.
James
After deputies responded to reports of shots fired near a residence in the Lake Monticello community, victims reported that James stopped in front of the victim’s driveway and fired multiple rounds from his vehicle, striking the victim’s car. Witnesses confirmed James as the driver involved in the shooting and stated that he fled the scene in a black Dodge Neon.
Deputies located the vehicle and initiated a brief pursuit
before James surrendered without further incident. According to deputies, shell
casings were observed inside the vehicle, which was later towed pending a
search warrant.
During an interview at the Fairfield County Sheriff’s
Office, James waived his rights and admitted to firing shots at the victims. According
to investigators, James said that an earlier verbal altercation between him and
one of the victims had escalated after he allegedly threw trash at his vehicle.
James was taken into custody and charged with one count of
Attempted Murder, one count of Assault and Battery 1st degree, Possession of a
Weapon During a Violent Crime, and Failure to Stop for a Blue Light. He was
transported to the Fairfield County Detention Center to await a bond hearing.
This incident remains under investigation by the Sheriff’s
office. Call Investigator Byrd at 803-635-4141 or use the anonymous tip line at
803-815-4191 with any information related to this incident.
WINNSBORO – Winnsboro Department of Public Safety Chief
Patrick Clemens gave a presentation to town council last month, updating some
aspects of the department’s progress in increasing the town’s safety.
Staffing and Vehicles
Clemens said the department is now fully staffed, with 12
officers and seven firefighters.
“We now have a waiting list for police and fire positions,”
he said. “Currently there are two pending repayments for officers that the
department trained and were hired by other agencies. Hopefully those repayments
will be enough to hire an additional firefighter.”
He said the shifts are 12-hours from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m., with
two police officers and a firefighter assigned to each shift.
“When everyone is trained, nightshift will have two
firefighters and two police officers,” he said. “Dayshift has one firefighter
and two police officers supplemented by the members of staff who are at work,
including Cpt. Tomashot and me. Both of us are also fire certified. Our investigators
include Cpt. Williams and Sgt. Brayboy, and they are on 24-hour call.
“Some of our officers are new to Winnsboro, but they bring
years of experience with them,” Clemens said.
He said the department has also able to purchase four
vehicles.
“The Town gave us $68,000 toward vehicle purchases, and we
purchased all four vehicles for $44,000,” Clemons said.
More Cameras Installed
“We’ve also installed more camera systems around the Town,”
Clemons said. “When I took over, there were eight cameras in Town, and now
there are about 128 cameras in 30 locations.”
Pointing out the locations of the cameras, he said, “These are hitting
the choke points. These include license
plate readers and a couple of the cameras have facial recognition capabilities.
The cameras can be searched from the database from a computer that is set up
with a large screen TV,” Clemons said. “The data lasts two weeks unless the
department can get an external server.
Then, it would last 30 days. If
there’s a shooting in the area, the recording is pulled the next day.
“So far, the cameras have helped solve or clarify several
traffic accidents, an attempted murder and several larcenies. Fairfield County Sheriff’s Office will often
contact us to get information from the cameras to help solve crimes in the
county.”
Service Calls Tracked
According to a monthly stat sheet Clemons prepares, there
were 1,113 service calls in July.
“That’s about 300 more from the month before,” he said. “Some of those calls include property checks,
which are done every day. There’s a courtesy officer at Deerwood Apartments
performing walk throughs.”
Clemons said there were 214 traffic stops last month and
seven fires reported.
Witness Information Sought
Clemons emphasized that any information from the public is
helpful in solving and preventing crimes in the town.
“What we’re always lacking is witnesses who are willing to
come forward with information. The more
information the department has,” Clemons said, “the better the case can be
prosecuted.
He said information can be sent to WDPS anonymously through
Facebook messenger.
“I manage the Facebook account, so I’m the only one who will
see this,” he said. “I’m not interested in getting anyone involved who does not
want to be.”
Clemons said that while the public safety department is in a
much better place now, a big concern remains that someone will get hurt by kids
shooting at each other.
“And even when we make an arrest, put the case together, and
coordinate everything with the Solicitor, once it gets to court, probation is
frequently given,” Clemons said.
“Somewhere a deal is being made, and that’s not what it takes to keep
our town safe. It is very frustrating watching people who the department has
arrested end up on probation for a crime they should be doing time for.”
Victim’s Advocate Outsourced
Mayor Demetrius
Chatman asked about hiring of a victim’s advocate.
“That’s not in the budget,” Clemons said. “To fund a
full-time victim’s advocate, the Town would lose money. But we can have an Investigator who also can
do victim’s advocate duties. The way the
salary is set up, it has to be reflective of how much actual victim’s advocate
work is being done. Otherwise, this
would be fraud, and we’re not going to involve the Town in anything like that.
So, this work is outsourced.”
Clemons said the department works with a group that handles
sexual assault and other victim’s advocate cases.
Cpt. Williams encouraged residents to hold town hall
meetings and to let the department know about them so officers and fireman can
attend.
FAIRFIELD COUNTY – Miguel Meza, age 33, of Columbia, SC was
involved in an accident at Carolina Adventure World in the Mitford area of
Fairfield County on Sunday Oct. 4, according to Fairfield County Coroner Chris
Hill.
Meza was transported from the park by EMS and flown to
Prisma Health Richland Memorial where he succumbed to his injuries.
An autopsy has been scheduled with Newberry Pathology in
Newberry, SC to determine the cause of death.
FAIRFIELD COUNTY – Fairfield County Emergency Management
offers the CodeRED Emergency Notification service to all Fairfield County
residents.
The service includes calls and text messages to citizens for
emergency notifications. Notifications consist of, but are not limited to,
weather emergencies, missing child alerts, and general emergency Information.
When an emergency notification call is received, the Caller
ID will display as 1-866-419-5000. General notifications will come from a
different number: 1-855-969-4636. Simply dial the number back to hear the last
message delivered.
To make sure you receive these crucial notifications, join
the database by registering now at: https://public.coderedweb.com/CNE/en-US/BFE46F070AD7.
The phone number of those who register will remains private
and will only be used for community communications.
COLUMBIA – SLED (South Carolina Law Enforcement Division) has charged Matthew Daniel McCoy, 18, of Blythewood, in connection with one of two shootings that killed a woman and injured a man at South Carolina State University Saturday night.
McCoy
McCoy was charged with Pointing and Presenting a Firearm at a Person, and Carrying a Weapon on School Property on Sunday, Oct. 5, 2025. The SLED investigation was requested by the South Carolina State University Department of Public Safety.
McCoy was booked into the Orangeburg County Detention Center.
The case will be prosecuted by the 1st Circuit Solicitor’s Office. SLED is investigating two shootings at S.C. State. Both shootings occurred in the evening on Saturday, Oct. 4. A woman was killed in one of the shootings.
A man was injured in the second shooting, and he is currently in the hospital.
The shootings are not believed to be connected at this time, however, SLED’s investigations are active and ongoing.
Anyone with information on either incidents should call (866) 472-8477 and/or email tips@sled.sc.gov.
BLYTHEWOOD – The Manor, Blythewood’s event venue, hasn’t made a profit or broke even since it opened in 2015. Its net loss for fiscal year 2024-25 was the highest loss yet – a staggering $175,375.56, up $34,177.50 over the previous year’s net loss.
Documents received in Blythewood town hall’s Sept. 8
response to a Freedom of Information request from the Voice show a new pattern
of lost Manor revenue that began in early 2024. That pattern shows reservations
for the Manor, the amphitheater, and other park venues being increasingly
‘rented’ for free or at greatly reduced fees.
“According to the FOI documents received by The Voice, by
not charging the fees reflected in the town’s ordinance, we lost about $134,600
on the Manor and amphitheater alone in 2024, and another $129,140 in 2025,”
Councilman Rich McKenrick said. “Even if I was off some here, the loss totals
somewhere in the neighborhood of $263,740,” McKenrick said. “How is that
happening?”
Mayor Pro Tem Donald Brock said council has not authorized anyone,
including the mayor, to comp or reduce fees for the Manor, and that it should
not be happening.
“Chapter 93.02 of the ordinance approved by council stipulates what fees are to be charged for reservations. It states that the Manor director is required to enforce the fees adopted by council, but that he has the authority to negotiate fees within 60 days of an event,” Brock said.
In a video from a breakfast Mayor Sloan Griffin hosted at
Lizard’s Thicket last summer, he denied that he negotiates Manor contracts for
events or that he has access to the Manor booking system
“I don’t get into the negotiations unless there’s a global
nonprofit that I know is benefiting directly to the town, and they contact me,”
Griffin said. “I don’t have access to the Manor booking system …I am very
strict on that.”
Griffin insisted that it is the Manor Director Fred Layman
who makes the pricing decisions and deviations, not him (Griffin). “I’m not
getting into how the director prices it, because that’s his job,” Griffin said.
Last week, Blythewood’s Interim Administrator Ed Driggers turned over what he said is evidence to the Richland County Sheriff’s Department against Layman. Town Hall says the documents concern the Town’s internal investigation of payments that were not turned in on time for a cheerleading program’s reservations for practices held at the Manor over an eight month period. Those payments are estimated at $1,000 – $2,000, according information provided to The Voice by both Layman and a council member.
Still, at least 14 free rentals listed in the Manor events
bookings since mid-2024 include the following notations: “per the mayor,”
“event at no charge per the mayor,” “mayor waved the fee,” “mayor comp,” “as
per mayor,” and “a gift from the town.”
Next to the comped reservation for Richland County Council Vice-Chair Derek Pugh on the Manor reservation list is the notation: “Mayor-Pugh.” Former Blythewood Town Councilman Larry Griffin was the recipient of comped reservations. A member of the Blythewood Chamber confirmed to The Voice that it was the mayor who authorized a free comp for the Chamber’s Gala last spring.
After stories were published about Pugh’s comped (free) reservations, Town officials said he negotiated to pay the Town $1,000 in lieu of the total $7,300 reservation cost for two events – a Friday, March 17, 2025 party for his mother-in-law, and a Saturday, Aug. 1, 2025 party for his sister-in-law. Layman says he was asked by the mayor to sit in on the negotiations, but that it was the mayor who negotiated the payment.
Layman sent the following email to his assistant, Kimberly Kacsur on July 28, 2025, in regard to authorization for Pugh’s reservation.
“Just to be clear. The Mayor booked the Pughs through you,
correct? [The Manor’s reservation system, Pitbull] says ‘per Mayor’ with zero
balance and zero due in May. Which is what we always do. So, you have done your
job correctly.
“However, I would double check with the Mayor because I did not approve of that. I did not know what [Mrs. Pugh] paid or was going to pay as Pitbull was down when that meeting occurred. I do not have the authority to discount or comp. I simply relayed the amount to charge as told by the Mayor at a meeting with Derek Pugh the day before I left …In fact, it should probably be in writing, the amount he wants to charge the Pughs.”
Layman has been on medical leave since that time.
FOI’d documents obtained by The Voice raise questions
regarding information in the Manor’s reservation listings.
A notation “as per mayor” was included on a comped memorial
service reservation at the Manor for one of the mayor’s top political
supporters who passed away during the referendum campaign.
Fees waived for the comped and reduced reservations, range as high as $4,500 per reservation, according to the Town’s Manor ordinance. Besides the 14 comped reservations since January, 2024, another 21 Manor reservations have been substantially reduced but are not directly tied to Griffin..
E-mails from Griffin to Layman show that the mayor has authorized
free and reduced-rate rentals.
In an email dated Nov. 12, 2024, Griffin wrote to Layman:
“First, I have to thank you for the amazing job you’re doing with the Manor and
the Park …I’m officially authorizing two price changes: Blythewood Chamber of
Commerce Christmas Gala – No Charge – and a Family Thanksgiving Day Dinner
reservation – $500.”
According to the Manor booking guide, the free Chamber Gala should have cost $4,500. The Family Thanksgiving Day Dinner reservation should have been $2,200.
In another email on Jan. 1, 2025, the mayor authorized Layman to adjust the booking fee for another of his (Griffin’s) top political supporters, to $1,000. (Name is redacted because The Voice has not been able to reach her for comment.)
“Kindly reach out to her at your earliest convenience and
finalize all necessary arrangements. Please let her know this has been
completed. Thank you for your prompt attention to this matter,” Griffin wrote.
According to the Town ordinance’s pricing guide, the
specified fee for that reservation, without a discount, would have been $4,500.
“A gift from the Town,” was written in the margin of a
reservation for a Saturday, July 12, 2025, 50th wedding anniversary celebration
for former Town Councilman Larry Griffin and his wife. The celebration also
included a birthday party for his wife. The 200-guest party included a band,
dance floor, cake table, and bar in the lobby. Larry Griffin confirmed to The
Voice that he did not pay for the reservation, and that he was told it was a gift
from the Town.
Mayor Pro Tem Donald Brock and Council Members Rich
McKenrick, Andrea Fripp, and Erica Page told The Voice they knew nothing about
the party for Griffin and his wife.
According to the Manor’s pricing brochure, the July 12 party
would have cost in excess of $4,500, which would not include the cost of the
additional July 11 reservation for decorating.
Town officials say the mayor is not under investigation by
RCSD, and that the Interim administrator has not asked to have him
investigated.
Since The Voice broke the story about the Manor comps and reduced fee reservations, the S.C. Ethics Commission has opened an investigating of Pugh in regard to the comped reservations.
