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NEWBERRY COUNTY – The Newberry County Sheriff’s office has arrested a teen on charges of murder resulting from an early Sunday morning shooting of a Winnsboro man along Highway 66 on Dec. 19.

Blaize Pedro Plaza, 19, of Whitmire was arrested on the evening of Dec. 20. He was taken to the Newberry County Detention Center to await bonding by a Circuit Court Judge.

The story unfolded when, at about 4 a.m., Dec. 19, Newberry County 911 was notified by Laurens County Sheriff’s Office regarding a bloody male walking on S.C. Highway 66 at the Newberry/Laurens County line.  Laurens and Newberry County Deputies and Whitmire Police Officers arrived to find a male that had been shot multiple times. 

Still conscious at the time, the man, later identified as Jamal Jermaine Alston, 24, of Winnsboro, was able to provide a few details, according to officials. 

He said he had picked up a white male and a white female from a gas station and that they had taken his 2015 tan Honda Accord.  Alston was transported by the Newberry County EMS and Whitmire Rescue Squad to an area trauma center, where he succumbed to his gunshot wounds.

During their investigation, deputies learned that a car was burned on Eaves Road in Union County. That vehicle was later identified as belonging to Alston.

Investigators say they were able to piece together the following information. 

Plaza and Alston met through a social networking site, and late Saturday night, Dec. 18, or early Sunday morning, Dec. 19, Alston drove to an address on S.C. Highway 66 to pick up Plaza and an unidentified female. 

After a short drive, Plaza asked Alston to pull over near the Newberry/Laurens County line. When Plaza returned to the car, the doors were locked. When Alston unlocked the doors, Blaze began firing into the car, striking Alston several times.  Alston exited the vehicle and ran into the woods with Plaza chasing him and continuing to fire his weapon.

Plaza and the female then took the victim’s vehicle and drove to Eaves Road in Union county, where he burned the vehicle to conceal evidence, according to authorities.

Investigators from Newberry County, SLED, and Whitmire Police continue to investigate the case. More charges could be forthcoming.

BLYTHEWOOD – Richland County Sheriff’s deputies are investigating a reported shooting death in Blythewood.

Deputies responded at about 1:30 a.m. Sunday to reports of a shooting at the Palisades of Blythewood apartments at 2051 Blythewood Crossing Lane.

When deputies arrived, they found a man lying on outside of an apartment. He had been shot in the upper body, and died at the scene, according to officials.

The name of the victim has not yet been released by the Richland County Coroner’s office.

Anyone with information about the incident can submit an anonymous tip to Crime Stoppers at crimesc.com.

LAKE WATEREE – An early morning fire on Tuesday, Dec. 28 has destroyed the Dutchman’s Creek Marina and Restaurant on Lake Wateree, according to Fairfield County Fire Services Director Jason Pope.

The fire was discovered after a security alarm notified the Fairfield County Sheriff’s Office at 3:30 Tuesday morning. Upon arrival at about 4 a.m., a deputy saw the fire and notified the Fairfield County Fire Service.

As fire trucks began arriving at about 4:15 a.m., Pope said the entire building was burning.

“There wasn’t a lot we could do at that point but control the fire,” Pope said. “The Winnsboro ladder truck came out to help us as well as trucks from the Dutchman’s Creek, Southeastern and Ridgeway stations.”

Six trucks plus support vehicles responded officials said.

Pope said the fire was under control by about 7 a.m. The cause of the fire is unknown at this time, he said. No one was in the building at the time of the fire and there were no injuries.

“It was a big fire,” Pope said. “The building is gone.”

The building was originally built around 1970 according to a post on Facebook.

Long a popular landmark on Lake Wateree, the marina/restaurant’s Facebook page describes it as providing “food, fun, adult beverages, convenience store items, bait, tackle, boating supplies, gas and wet boat storage & liquor store.”

Commenters poured their memories and love for the marina and restaurant on a post in a Lake Wateree Facebook group on Tuesday morning as news broke.

“Dutchman is one of my favorite restaurants on the water. We’ve had many good lunches their [sic]. Praying you will be able to build back for the summer,” one commenter said.

“Oh no. I’m from Spartanburg and this is where I get breakfast and bait every trip down,” said another.

“Dutchman’s and Nora have been a staple in our family every time we are at Lake Wateree,” said another post. “This is a huge loss for the community. My thoughts and prayers are with Nora and all of her team.”

Dutchman’s owner Nora Martin responded to the outpouring of support on Wednesday morning in a Facebook post.

“The love and kindness you have demonstrated is overwhelming,” she wrote, “and my eyes puddle as I am writing this… I thank each of you for your help that night not only with the fire but helping me through a very traumatic time.”

Martin continued to say that her plan is to rebuild Dutchman’s and that she will likely have a temporary set up for 2022. She says she will reach out to the community in the coming weeks to ask for help removing the debris.

According to Martin’s post, the outside bar, lower deck pontoon stage and dance floor were untouched in the fire.

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This story was updated Wednesday, Dec. 29 at 2:23 p.m.

BLYTHEWOOD/WINNSBORO – Residents in Blythewood, Ridgeway, Winnsboro and as far away as Lexington reported feeling the effects of an earthquake shortly after 2 p.m. Monday, Dec. 27.

The U.S. Geological Survey has confirmed that a 3.3 magnitude earthquake occurred at 2:18 p.m. about 0.5 kilometers (3.1 miles) from Elgin.

Three aftershocks later in the day near Elgin were confirmed by the USGS: a 2.35 magnitude aftershock at 5:38 p.m.; a 2.1 magnitude aftershock at 6:22 p.m., and a 1.7 magnitude aftershock at 10:03 p.m.

Following the initial earthquake, comments lit up Facebook pages of Blythewood and Fairfield County residents who reported that they felt their home shake. Some comments likened the sound at the time of the earthquake to the sound of a train or an airplane flying low over a house.

At this time, no injuries or damage has been reported from the earthquake or the aftershocks.

In the past two months, a series of seven minor tremors have been reported around the Monticello reservoir in Fairfield County.

The exact coordinates of the Elgin area earthquake are 34.181°N 80.735°W.

More information will be provided as it is available.

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This story was updated Dec. 28 at 11:37 a.m.

WINNSBORO – After a good Samaritan alerted the Fairfield County Fire Service to a house on fire on Evans Street about 7:20 on Christmas Eve, another one used a garden hose to spray water into the window of the room on fire. Once the fire fighters arrived, they entered the home and extinguished the fire.

The family dog, who was in the house as the fire burned, had become overcome with smoke, but was revived and rescued by firefighters, according to the incident report.

There were no other injuries reported and officials said most of the fire damage was contained to the room of origin. They credited the good Samaritans for helping control the fire until fire personnel arrived.

NEWBERRY – Newberry County 911 was notified by the Laurens County Sheriff’s Office regarding a bloody male walking on SC Highway 66 at the Newberry/Laurens County line. 

Laurens and Newberry County Deputies and Whitmire Police Officers arrived to find a man that had been shot multiple times, standing almost directly on the Laurens/Newberry County Line.  Although he was conscious at the time, he was only able to provide few details. 

The man, later identified as Jamal Jermaine Alston, 24, of Winnsboro, said he had picked up a white male and a white female from a gas station.  He went on to say they had taken his 2015 tan Honda Accord.  Alston was transported by the Newberry County EMS and Whitmire Rescue Squad to an area trauma center, where he died from his gunshot wounds.

While investigating in the area where Alston was found, Deputies learned that a car was on fire in Union County.  Deputies responded to Eaves Road in Union County, where they found a vehicle completely burned.  A forensic investigation later identified the vehicle as belonging to Alston.

Investigators from Newberry, Laurens, and Union Counties along with SLED are investigating the murder due to some elements of the crime appearing to be in each jurisdiction.

The investigative teams are trying to piece together Alston’s timeline of the evening and determine the location of the gas station where he picked up the alleged assailants. 

The Newberry County Coroner’s Office said it would perform a forensic autopsy at a later date.

“This is an extremely bizarre case,” according to Newberry County Sheriff Lee Foster. “We need the public’s help in solving this case. We are working hard to find evidence of locations and the people he picked up. 

“Anyone with information regarding this situation, please call your local Sheriff’s Office or Crime Stoppers at 1-888-CrimeSC,” said Sheriff Foster.