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  • Council votes to release video of Manor ‘trespassing’ incident

    BLYTHEWOOD – Following a lengthy, contentious executive session Monday night for Blythewood Town Council members to receive legal advice on “Manor operations and incidents,” council immediately voted to release a surveillance video to the public of an incident that occurred in the Manor on Thursday, Sept. 11 involving Mayor Sloan Griffin and a Manor employee.

    That video, has been overseen by Interim Town Administrator Ed Driggers since the incident and not shared with council members until Monday.

    In that incident, reported in the Sept. 18 issue of The Voice [“Conflicting accounts emerge from Manor Incident”], Michelle Layman, the wife of Manor Director Fred Laymam, gave this account:

    “I went to the Manor to give a check for payment,” Michelle Layman said. “I have my baby and go to staff’s office to give the check.

    “I was told that they will not accept my check and that I cannot leave the building without taking it with me. When I put the check under the office door and start to leave, the mayor and another staff member hold the front door so I cannot leave. I get scared and become distressed when they won’t let me out of the building. I told them I need air and that I need my medicine out of my car, but they keep holding the door. I get exhausted and sit down in a chair, then they stop holding the door.”

    “During struggle to get out, before I sit down, I called my husband to tell him what is happening,” Michelle Layman said. Fred Layman, who was on medical leave from his position at the Manor, called 911.

    Michelle Laymon ended up with a trespassing notice issued by a Richland County Deputy before being taken away in an ambulance. She said she was admitted to a local hospital for almost three days.

    A Richland County Sheriff’s deputy’s incident report stated: “While on scene, …[her] husband called [911] stating that his wife was being held hostage by the mayor, which was found to be untrue.”

    However, a source who has seen the video, told The Voice that it shows Mayor Sloan Griffin and a male Manor employee preventng Michelle Layman from leaving leave the building, and that when she moved to another door to get out, the the Manor employee moved to that door to block her exit.

    On Monday night, in regard to that incident, Mayor Pro Tem Donald Brock made the following motion:

    “Mr. Mayor, I move to release the video effective immediately in regards to the incident that occurred on Sept. 11, 2025, from approximately 3.30 p.m. to 5.30 p. m,” Brock said.

    “Will this have a negative impact on any ongoing investigation?” Councilwoman Andrea Fripp asked Town Attorney Pete Balthazar.

    “There’s really no way to tell,” Balthazar said. “I don’t know if you’re talking about any law enforcement investigation. Yeah, I don’t know how law enforcement would view that. I know that law enforcement, when it comes to active investigations, is very protective of the pieces of evidence until they get to a point where they’ve figured out everyone’s stories and they’ve figured out all the facts as they have it. But whether the release now or the video is in the hands of a investigator that can review all those statements and facts of what went on that day, I don’t know.

    “It’s a public video that took place in a public place with public employees,” said Brock. “It needs to be released immediately. Does it change what happened? Releasing it doesn’t change what’s on the video.”

    Fripp asked again if releasing the video would have a negative impact on the ongoing investigation.

    “Is there an open and active investigation into this?” Brock asked and then answered his own question. “No. The answer is No. So, there’s no negative impact on the investigation because one doesn’t exist.

    “Will it spur one?” he asked, then again answered. “Absolutely. Should it? 1,000 percent”.

    Councilman Rich McKenrick added a friendly amendment to the motion.

    “I would suggest getting an incident report from each employee that was present during the alleged incident and give it to the county attorney,” McKenrick said.

    As part of the motion, Balthazar said he would request that report from those employees.

    Both Balthazar and Driggers had allowed the mayor to participate in some of their investigation into Manor operations according to sources who spoke with Balthazar and Driggers, but both advised council members against releasing the video, according to several council members.

    As the council members left executive session and returned to open session, tensions were high, with Griffin using curse words as he approached the table to be seated.

    However, in a roll call vote, Griffin joined Brock, Fripp and McKenrick who had already voted to pass the motion in a majority vote before Griffin cast his vote. Councilwoman Erica Page voted against the measure.

    Following the vote, Driggers quickly gathered his belongings and left the Manor without informing council members when, what time, and where the video would be released.

  • Coach says she lost thousands in fees after months of paying Manor rental fees

    BLYTHEWOOD – A check that was presented to and rejected by the Blythewood mayor and Manor officials on Sept. 11 has helped fuel an investigation into missing Manor reservation payments by the Richland County Sheriff’s department. A story about the Sept. 11 incident appeared in the Sept. 18 edition of The Voice.

    The story began with Michelle Layman, the wife of Manor Director Fred Layman, taking a check to the Manor and ended, she said, with her being prohibited from leaving, having a medical emergency and being transported to a local hospital where she was treated and released three days later.

    Fred Layman told The Voice that the check his wife took to the Manor represented funds he had previously received via Cash App from a cheerleading coach for a space she rented in the Manor for practices for her cheer team. He said he had failed to turn the money in on time due to being on medical leave from his job.

    Fred Layman said the check was signed but not filled out because he wasn’t sure how much was owed.

    Two days later, after reading the story in The Voice, Ashanti Thames of Palmetto Storm Cheer called The Voice to say she was the coach who had sent money to Fred Layman’s Cash App for the check that Layman’s wife took to the Manor.

    Thames went on to say that she is now learning from town hall officials that some of the more than $10,000 she has paid out over the last eight months for her cheerleading team’s practice sessions at the Manor has not been accounted for.

    In an interview with The Voice, Thames described a patchwork of Cash App transfers, personal checks and cash payments she says she made to Fred Layman beginning in late October of last year. She said her cheer team practiced most Tuesdays and Thursdays and occasionally on Saturdays from the last week in October, 2024, through the spring and a few times during the summer. The program officially ended Aug. 30.

    “Fred paid the Town out of his pocket. I Cash App’d the money to him, and he’d apply it to my reservations,” Thames said.

    Town officials now say that not all of those payments were credited to the cheer coach, and they say they are still not sure if any payments are missing.

    The Arrangement

    According to Thames, she launched the competitive squad after branching off from a local sideline program. Fred Layman, whose daughter was on Thames’s cheer team, suggested the team practice at the Manor, according to both Thames and Fred Layman. She said she paid $100 per hour for practices for her cheer students, but that after Fred Layman’s daughter dropped out of the program a couple of months later, the fee went up to $150 per hour.

    Thames said she paid $300 per day on the two weekdays ($600 per week) and $600 for longer four-hour Saturday sessions. On weeks with Saturday practice, she estimates she was out of pocket about $1,200.

    She said she learned last week from Town officials that she should have been paying $100 per hour for her cheer sessions, not $150.

    Thames said her payments over the eight months to the Manor included: Cash App transfers to Layman totaling $2,950 (11 transactions); more than $4,000 in cash to Layman; $1,000 in cash to another Manor staffer, and $400 in checks to Layman and about $1,600 in checks to the Town.

    While she did not receive receipts, Thames has provided The Voice with bank screenshots and Cash App records documenting the payments. She said the amounts she paid include three separate $500 deposits tied to contracts she signed with Fred Layman over the course of the eight months, but that one of the contracts is now “missing.” Fred Layman confirmed the missing contract to The Voice. Thames said none of the $500 deposits have been returned to her by the Town.

    “I really don’t know what’s going on,” Thames said. “I kept looking at my bank account, trying to figure out why the checks I had given were never deposited,” she said.

    Cancellations and overcharges

    Beyond the missing payments, Thames said frequent last-minute cancellations by the Manor compounded her losses. She said she prepaid for February and March, but the team was able to practice only once in February and twice in March due to cancellations she was told were due to conflicting events, such as a town hall meeting and a baby shower.

    She said she has since learned from town officials that the Manor does not cancel paid reservations but, instead, moves users to different time slots. Thames disputes that this happened consistently for her team and says parents threatened to pull their athletes because the schedule became erratic.

    Where Things Stand

    Council members have told The Voice that Driggers has shared little with them about the investigation of both Fred Layman’s handling of the cheerleading teams’ payments and Mayor Sloan Griffin’s alleged involvement with comping the use of the Manor (partially or totally) for friends. They say Driggers and the attorney have assured them that Griffin would not be involved in the investigation concerning the missing cheer payments.

    Thames, however, told The Voice that Griffin has been in contact with her via phone several times since the Sept. 11 incident at the Manor concerning her payments. She said Griffin was also included in a meeting with her, Driggers, and the town attorney concerning her missing payments.

    Thames said she provided town officials with Cash App logs and bank images, and is helping to reconstruct a day-by-day practice ledger so the Town can calculate a refund.

     By her rough estimate, Thames said the Town owes her at least “$2,000 – $3,000” for overcharges, her payments that she said were never turned in to the Manor, and her payments for canceled sessions. She expects that figure could rise as more dates are reconciled. She said she does not know how many of her payments were recorded with the Town.

    Thames provided The Voice with text messages from Fred Layman promising to repay any money that he owed her.

    Thames said Palmetto Storm Cheer is “out of money” because of the losses.

    “You all owe me,” Thames recalled telling Town officials. “My program is out of money because of this.” Thames said she’ll keep supplying documents until every dollar is accounted for.

  • Conflicting accounts emerge from Manor incident

    A Richland County EMS truck responds to a call from the Manor on Sept. 11. | Barbara Ball

    BLYTHEWOOD – Michelle Layman, the wife of the Manor’s Director, Fred Layman III, walked into the Manor – a public building – a little after 4 p.m. with her 10-month-old baby to leave a check. She ended up with a trespassing notice before being taken away in an ambulance.

    Fred Layman, who is on medical leave from the Manor, said the check was in place of a Cash App payment he had received for a cheerleading program held at the Manor that he had not yet turned in. He told The Voice that he had asked his wife to drop the check off before she picked up their children from day care.

    Michelle Layman, a petite Vietnamese-American woman, spoke with The Voice after she was discharged from the hospital on Sept. 13, giving the following account.

    “I went to the Manor to give a check for payment,” Michelle Layman said. “I have my baby and go to staff’s office to give the check.

    “I was told that they will not accept my check and that I cannot leave the building without taking it with me. When I put the check under the office door and start to leave, the mayor and another staff member hold the front door so I cannot leave. I get scared and become distressed when they won’t let me out of the building. I told them I need air and that I need my medicine out of my car, but they keep holding the door. I get exhausted and sit down in a chair, then they stop holding the door.

    “During struggle to get out, before I sit down, I called my husband to tell him what is happening,” Michelle Layman said.

    “While I am sitting in the chair trying to get air, the officers come in the door. They open the door so I can get air and they get my medicine from my car. The officer talked to the mayor. The firetruck came and fireman gave me oxygen,” she said.  She said the family’s nanny headed to The Manor to pick up the baby, but that she (Michelle) was not well enough to go with them.

    Richland County Sheriff’s deputies outside of The Manor during the Sept. 11 incident.

    Fred Layman told The Voice that surveillance cameras cover the area where his wife was allegedly blocked from leaving the building, and that he has contacted the Sheriff’s Department to have the video secured. Six days after the incident, council members say Interim Administrator Ed Driggers has not provided them any information about the video except to say it is secured.

    In answer to an inquiry from The Voice, Driggers emailed the following: “There is video and I have reviewed that video. It is part of an ongoing review of the incident and other personnel matters at the Manor.”

    Mayor Sloan Griffin has not answered emails or phone calls from The Voice concerning the matter.

    Mayor Pro Tem Donald Brock and Councilwoman Andrea Fripp arrived at the Manor as Michelle Layman was being placed in the ambulance. A deputy on scene spoke with both The Voice and the two council members concerning the incident.

    According to Brock, a deputy at the scene said that there would be no report issued regarding the incident, but after three emails and two phone calls from The Voice over a three-day period, RCSD released the incident report on Monday, Sept. 15.

    Trespass notice received by Michelle Layman.

    The deputy’s incident report differs from Michelle Layman’s account of what happened, but she says the officers gathered their information from the mayor, not from her.

    “…Upon arrival at the scene, …I spoke with the Mayor of Blythewood, who reported that a female …the wife of a Blythewood employee had entered the property without authorization and slipped a white envelope in the main office with nothing but a person’s name on it and tried to leave,” the incident report states.

     “The Blythewood Mayor and other officials asked her to pick it up and to leave the area. (redacted) refused to pick up the envelope, saying that they want them to have it, which was found out later to contain a check supposedly by (redacted) and while being confronted (redacted) stated to have medical episode,” the report stated.

    “While on scene …husband called [911] stating that his wife was being held hostage by the mayor, which was found to be untrue,” the officer wrote.

    “(Redacted) having a medical episode, prompted a call for service by CFD [Columbia Fire Department] and RCEMS [Richland County EMS] with CFD arrived on scene first to stabilize (redacted). While CFD was working on (redacted) the enclosed envelope was collected, after (redacted) accept to take back the envelope. Deputies were informed by the officials of Blythewood they wanted to put (redacted) on Trespass from the property,” the report stated.

    The report also stated that EMS arrived on scene and transported (name redacted) for evaluation and medical treatment. 

    “This report is for the trespass notice that was issued,” the report stated.

    “Ms. Layman, in my opinion, has the right to enter Doko Manor, just like anyone else, to conduct business,” Blythewood Mayor Pro Tem Donald Brock said in an email response to The Voice’s request for comment. “It’s clearly a public building, owned and held by the citizens of Blythewood.

    “I am not aware of any past disturbances that occurred while she was present, and the fact that a Richland County deputy issued her a trespassing notice is uncalled-for at best,” Brock said. “No trespassing notice should have been given. I would certainly expect better judgment from Richland County moving forward.”

    This is a developing story that will be updated as more information becomes available.

    Manor-Incident-ReportDownload

  • Suspect arrested in deadly BW shooting

    BLYTHEWOOD – Fred Gause Jr, 43, was arrested on Tuesday, Sept. 16, following the investigation into a murder that occurred on Haygood Road in Blythewood on Sept. 15, according to the Richland County Sheriff’s Department.

    Fred Gause Jr. | Photo: RCSD

    According to an incident report from the Sheriff’s Department, deputies responded to the 100 block of Haygood Road at approximately 4:45 p.m. on Monday, Sept. 15 in reference to a shooting.

    When deputies arrived, they located two victims inside the residents – an adult female who was deceased and an adult make with gunshot wounds to the upper body. Units rendered aid until fire and EMS arrived and transported the make to a local hospital for treatment, the report stated.

    The suspect fled prior to deputies’ arrival, according the Sheriff’s department.

    The Sheriff’s Department credited the community in helping identify Gause, who was arrested on Tuesday.

    “Further investigation revealed that Gause is known to frequent the Haygood neighborhood; he does not reside there,” the department said. “Investigators are still working to determine the connection between the suspect and victims and what led up to the shooting.”

    Gause was booked into Alvin S. Glenn Detention Center on Tuesday and charged with Murder, Attempted Murder, and Possession of a Weapon during a Violent Crime. He was denied bond.

  • Blythewood shooting leaves one dead, one injured

    Map: Google

    BLYTHEWOOD – Richland County Sheriff’s Department investigators are investigating a deadly shooting that occurred at the 100 block of Haygood Road this afternoon.

    On Monday, Sept. 15, 2025, just before 5 p.m., deputies responded to the 100 block of Haygood Road in reference to a shooting. When deputies arrived, they located an adult female victim dead on scene and an adult male victim with gunshot wounds to the upper body.

    The male victim was transported to a local hospital for treatment. The suspect(s) fled prior to deputies’ arrival, according to a report from the Sheriff’s office.

    If you have information regarding this incident, call RCSD at (803)576-3000 or submit a tip anonymously through CrimeStoppers.

    This investigation is ongoing.

  • Impersonator scams Fairfield man out of $200

    WINNSBORO – The Fairfield County Sheriff’s Office is investigating an electronic scam in which a 75-year-old resident was tricked into purchasing $200 in gift cards by someone posing as a friend.

    Daniel Singleton reported that on August 22, he received texts from someone he believed to be a trusted acquaintance, Brandon Henderson. The impostor asked Singleton to purchase multiple gift cards totaling $600, claiming they were for “county members.”

    When Singleton said he couldn’t make that purchase, the imposter asked him to instead buy a $50 Apple card at the CVS in Winnsboro, scratch off the back and text a picture of the code. He was then asked to buy three more $50 Apple gift cards, with reimbursement promised later that day.

    The individual then asked for two more $100 cards. At that point, Singleton declined, saying he couldn’t make additional purchases. Still believing he was corresponding with Henderson, Singleton continued to message the person to arrange reimbursement. When no response came, he contacted Henderson directly and learned that he had been communicating with an imposter. At that point, Singleton contacted the Fairfield County Sheriff’s Office.

    Chief Deputy Douglas confirmed that Henderson had been notified about the scam but was not involved. The imposter used a Google Voice number ending in 9951 to send the texts. The Sheriff’s Office is urging residents to be cautious of similar scams.

  • Blythewood Rd. traffic to shift toward Cobblestone

    BLYTHEWOOD – The traffic pattern on Blythewood Road will change starting the morning of Friday, Sept. 12.

    According to Assistant Program Manager for SCDOT Brooks Bickley, one half of the traffic circle is nearing completion and crews will begin construction of the final half after the lane shifts.

    “We’ll be shifting the traffic temporarily towards Cobblestone after Thursday night,” he said. “This will be the last traffic change before we go to the final traffic circle arrangement.”

    Bickley said the traffic circle is expected to be completed by late fall.

  • Attorney for Town of Ridgeway: Church never filed FOI requests

    RIDGEWAY – After the Neighborly Church of Peace in Ridgeway filed a lawsuit in July against the Town of Ridgeway, asserting that the Town’s non-responsiveness to a series of Freedom of Information requests violates state law, the Town has now filed for dismissal of the Complaint.

    The Town’s attorney, Tommy Morgan, filed a Notice of Motion and Motion in the Court of Common Pleas of the Sixth Judicial Circuit for an Order dismissing the church’s Complaint, stating that “the church never served any of the South Carolina Freedom of Information Act requests upon the Defendant Town of Ridgeway as alleged in the Complaint and, therefore, is not the proper party to this action”

    The Motion to Dismiss also stated that church’s “Complaint fails to state facts sufficient to constitute a cause of action and should be dismissed as to Defendant Town of Ridgeway pursuant to Rule 12(b)(6) of the South Carolina Rules of Civil Procedure for failure to state a claim upon which relief can be granted.” 

    The church filled the lawsuit on July 28, stating that the Town had received 5 Freedom of Information requests on Feb. 3, 2025; Feb. 13, 2025; March 5, 2025; March 28, 2025, and another one on March 28, 2025, according to the suit. 

    The Town’s Motion to Dismiss was filed a month later on Aug. 27.

  • Robertson arrested following Winnsboro shooting

    Robertson

    WINNSBORO – On Saturday, Aug. 9, Fairfield County Sheriff’s deputies responded to reports of gunfire in the Columbia Road area of Winnsboro.

    According to the police report, evidence at the scene indicated that shots were exchanged between individuals near a residence on Oak Street.

    Following the investigation, Tyrese Antonio Robertson was arrested on Monday, Aug. 25, at his home on Oak Street for Breach of Peace, High and Aggravated in Nature. According to deputies, a search warrant was executed at the residence, where a firearm and ammunition were recovered. Robertson was also charged for unlawful possession of a firearm, according to the Sheriff’s Office.

    Robertson was transported to the Fairfield County Detention Center where he was booked on the charges.

    This investigation remains ongoing, and additional charges may follow.

  • Man arrested at Blythewood Chamber office

    BLYTHEWOOD – Bryan Keith Smith, 51, was arrested just before 5 p.m., Wednesday, Aug. 20, after he and an unidentified female had been standing outside the Blythewood Chamber of Commerce building, according to a Richland County Sheriff’s report.

    Smith

    The two were reportedly taking photos of the building, texting and looking in the windows of the building when chamber employees called 911.

    “A previously issued warrant was the basis for his arrest,” an RCSD public information officer told The Voice.

    According to a spokesperson with the criminal records department at the Richland County Clerk of Court’s office, that warrant had been issued Dec. 5, 2023, for ‘Breach of Trust with Fraudulent Intent under $2,000’ after Smith allegedly failed to return an iPad belonging to someone else.

    Smith was released from Alvin S. Glenn Detention Center Thurs., Aug. 21, on a personal recognizance bond set at $2,125.

    RCSD deputies were also called to the Chamber office and an adjacent office under similar circumstances the night before Smith’s arrest.

    At about 8:30 p.m., on Aug. 19, Sheriff’s Deputies were called concerning two males who were observed for 10-15 minutes at the front door of the Chichester Insurance office at 305 Main Street, and then for another 15 minutes or so next door at the front door of the Blythewood Chamber of Commerce building.

    A Sheriff’s deputy who responded, reported that the two individuals were males in their teens who said they were taking photos of the doors of the two buildings for an album cover.

    “I told them to wrap it up and I left,” the deputy told The Voice.

    The Sheriff’s office was unable to confirm that the Aug. 19 incident involving the two teen males was connected to Smith’s arrest the next day.