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Emanuel Bedford Charged In Deidre Reed Murder

Emanuel Bedford who was the person of interest in the disappearance of Deidre Reid has now been charged with her murder. According to police reports Deidre Reid disappeared six months ago after she gave Emanuel Bedford a ride to a bus station in September 2021. Deidre Reid, who is a mother of six, car was found abandoned in Aiken County South Carolina with signs of foul play inside of the vehicle which was submerged in a pond. Emanuel Bedford was seen on surveillance camera driving Deidre Reid vehicle however she was not seen in the vehicle. Emanuel Bedford is the father of Deidre Reid youngest child. Along with murder charges Emanuel Bedford is facing kidnapping and obstruction of justice charges.

Emanuel Bedford More News

The person of interest in the case of a missing Chesterfield County mom is now charged with murder and kidnapping, officials said.

On Thursday, a deputy solicitor asked the jury for upgraded charges, including murder, in the disappearance of Deidre Reid, a mother of three who vanished six months ago from Pageland.

Investigators said she drove Emanuel Bedford, the father of her youngest child, to a Charlotte bus station in September.

She never returned home.

Bedford was previously facing charges of obstruction of justice and grand larceny. He has now been indicted on charges of murder and kidnapping in the death of Reid.

In a hearing in February, Channel 9 learned Deidre Reid’s car was found in Aiken County, South Carolina, just days after she was reported missing, according to the solicitor. The state said the car, which was found partially submerged in a pond on Sept. 5, had blood inside it.

Deidre had plans to meet up with her sister, Tina, after she dropped Bedford off.

“I waited and waited. She never called back so I called James and said, ‘have you heard from Deidre? She supposed to been coming by, she said she was coming back and she hadn’t came yet.’” Tina Reid recalled. “He said, ‘she probably okay,’ but I didn’t feel right. I didn’t feel right.”

On Sept. 23, Bedford was named a person of interest in Reid’s disappearance and in February, prosecutors revealed what family members have said all along — they don’t believe he has been truthful about what happened the day Reid disappeared.

During February’s hearing, prosecutors said Bedford never got on a bus in Charlotte. They said on the afternoon Reid disappeared, he was spotted on surveillance video at a York County gas station, driving Reid’s car. She was not seen in that video. Then, two days later, investigators found her partially submerged car and were still processing the DNA evidence from the blood they found inside it.

Bedford was denied bond in that hearing.

https://www.wsoctv.com/news/local/murder-charge-expected-case-missing-pageland-mother-solicitor-says/MH7AN5FCLRBNDGC7FFRFHQNQPY/

Cassandra Escobar Now Faces Murder Charges

Cassandra Escobar has now been indicted in the murder of her boyfriend Caleb James who died in May 2021. According to police documents Cassandra Escobar would tell police that Caleb James had shot himself in the head while he was playing with the gun. South Carolina police would initially buy her story however further investigations uncovered a different story. The coroner report would come back in June 2021 and the cause of death was listed as homicide as it was impossible for Caleb James to have shot himself due to where the bullet entered his head. Cassandra Escobar now faces one count of murder however more charges are pending.

Cassandra Escobar More News

A woman was arrested and charged in connection to a shooting that happened on May 13, 2021, on White Sand Circle in Hartsville, according to a release from Darlington County Sheriff James Judson Jr.

Cassandra Escobar was charged with involuntary manslaughter and then indicted Thursday for murder by the Darlington County Grand Jury, Hudson said.

Caleb James, 18, died after he was shot in the May incident, according to Darlington County Coroner Todd Hardee.

The incident report said that when deputies responded to the scene, Escobar said that James was playing with his gun and accidentally shot himself.

Hardee said that the death is being investigated as a homicide and after an almost month-long investigation it was determined by the coroner that he was shot by another person.

Investigators with the Darlington County Sheriff’s Office arrested Escobar without incident.

She is currently being held at the W. Glenn Campbell Detention Center awaiting a bond hearing.

The investigation is ongoing and there is no further information at this time.

https://wpde.com/news/local/woman-now-charged-with-murder-for-shooting-that-killed-hartsville-teenager-sheriff-says

Caleb Kennedy Charged In Fatal DUI

Former American Idol contestant Caleb Kennedy has been charged in a fatal DUI that has left a man dead in South Carolina. According to police reports Caleb Kennedy was driving a 2011 Ford pickup when he struck a building killing a man inside. Caleb Kennedy would be arrested and when his alcohol level was tested he was well over the legal limit. The former American Idol contestant was charged with felony driving under the influence resulting in death and remains in a county jail

Caleb Kennedy More News

Former “American Idol” contestant Caleb Kennedy has been charged with a felony DUI after a fatal crash in his home state of South Carolina.

South Carolina Highway Patrol master trooper Mitchell Ridgeway confirmed to USA TODAY on Tuesday that the country singer, 17, has been “charged with felony driving under the influence resulting in death,” after driving a 2011 Ford Pickup into a building.

A person inside the building sustained a fatal injury as a result of the collision, Ridgeway said.

The crash, which occurred Tuesday at approximately 12:41 p.m. on a private road in Spartanburg County, remains under investigation by the South Carolina Highway Patrol.

According to Ridgeway, the driver of the vehicle was taken to Spartanburg Medical Center. The second person that was in the building was also taken to the hospital, then died from their injuries.

Caleb Kennedy began his “Idol” journey in October 2020 and eventually made it to the Top 5 before abruptly leaving the show after a controversial social media post resurfaced online. In a Snapchat post, Kennedy appeared beside someone wearing what seems to be a Ku Klux Klan hood.

“Now that I’m home, I try to be me, but I’m also scared of someone videoing me when I go to Academy or Walmart. You have to worry about things like that now,” Kennedy told the Spartanburg Herald-Journal, part of the USA TODAY Network, in June 2021.

While speaking about his time on the show, Kennedy admitted he underestimated the pressures of performing on a popular show like “Idol.”

“You think it’s all going to be fun, and a lot of it is, but it will slap you in the face really quickly. I wasn’t ready for it,” he said. “There’s no way to emotionally prepare for ‘Idol.’ Because no one is ready for it, no matter how you prepare.”

However, he noted that he didn’t have regrets despite the challenges, adding “I did love it.”

Last May, viewers were surprised when Kennedy failed to appear on the show to perform alongside the season’s Top 5 contestants. Host Ryan Seacrest barely touched on Kennedy’s absence on air, saying at the top of the show that the high school student “will not be continuing in the competition.”

However, in a virtual Q&A after the show, judges Lionel Richie and Luke Bryan gave their thoughts on the controversy. “First and foremost, as judges and as a judges panel, we love these kids, and we get emotionally involved,” Bryan said. “We wish nothing but the best for Caleb, and it does make for a very, very challenging and upsetting week.”

Richie added that he hoped the controversy would be a learning experience for the teenager. “We grow up, and we make mistakes, and we look at our lives behind us many, many times, and we say, ‘God, what was I thinking about when I did that?’ This is one of those situations,” he said.

Kennedy took to Instagram to apologize and officially announce his departure on May 12.

“Hey y’all, this is gonna be a bit of a surprise, but I am no longer gonna be on ‘American Idol,’ ” he wrote. “There was a video that surfaced on the internet and it displayed actions that were not meant to be taken in that way. I was younger and did not think about the actions, but that’s not an excuse. I wanna say sorry to all my fans and everyone who I have let down.”

Kennedy’s family told the Herald-Journal at the time that the video was recorded when he was 12, and his mother, Anita Guy, said the video “was taken after Caleb had watched the movie ‘The Strangers: Prey at Night’ and they were imitating those characters.”

“Caleb doesn’t have a racist bone in his body,” she added.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/entertainment/celebrities/2022/02/08/caleb-kennedy-american-idol-felony-dui-fatal-car-crash-south-carolina/6713458001/

James Roach South Carolina Execution

James Roach was executed by the State of South Carolina for a double murder. According to court documents James Roach and Joseph Shaw would attack a teen age couple where the girl was sexually assault and both were murdered. James Roach and Joseph Shaw would be arrested, convicted and sentenced to death. Joseph Shaw would be executed by way of the electric chair on January 11, 1985. James Roach who was seventeen years old when the double murder took place would be executed on January 10 1986.

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James Terry Roach, who murdered two teen-agers when he was only 17, was executed today after the Supreme Court rejected his appeal and the governor refused clemency requests from the United Nations, Mother Teresa, Jimmy Carter and human rights groups.

Roach, 25, was pronounced dead at 5:16 a.m., said Doug Catoe, a deputy corrections department commissioner.

″I leave you comfortable that I’ve been forgiven in my sins, just as I have forgiven those who have done this to me,″ Roach said in a final statement addressed to his family and fellow death-row inmates.

″I’m going to a much better place without a heavy burden upon me. I pray that my fate will some day save another kid that ends up on the wrong side of the tracks. … ″To my family and friends, there is only three words to say: I love you. May God bless each and every one of you.″

With two dissenting votes, the Supreme Court late Thursday refused to grant a stay, clearing the way for Roach’s early morning execution in South Carolina’s electric chair at the Central Correctional Institution.

U.N. Secretary-General Javier Perez de Cuellar; Joao Clemente Baena Soares, the secretary-general of the Organization of American States; Nobel Peace Prize winner Mother Teresa; former President Carter and international human rights groups all made appeals on Roach’s behalf.

But Gov. Dick Riley refused to grant clemency. He had also refused clemency for co-defendant Joseph Carl Shaw, who was 22 when the slayings occurred and was executed Jan. 11, 1985.

About 220 death penalty proponents and 60 opponents gathered outside the century-old prison on the Congaree River in chilly predawn temperatures before the execution.

Inside, Roach laughed nervously while waiting for the sentence to be carried out.

″He was very calm about everything,″ said said witness Sean Callebs. ″He showed no emotion.″

Roach, who was the second person put to death in South Carolina and the 51st in the nation since the death penalty was reinstituted in 1976, spent Thursday night visiting with relatives and a minister.

He requested a last meal of fried shrimp, hush puppies, french fries, tossed salad, cherry cheesecake and a soft drink, said Hal Leslie, a spokesman for the state Department of Corrections.

Roach’s attorneys argued that his life should be spared because he suffered from Huntington’s chorea, a mentally debilitating condition, and because international accords prohibit the execution of those younger than 18 at the time of their offense.

Similar arguments made to the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals earlier Thursday also were unsuccessful.

Roach said on ABC-TV’s ″Nightline″ Thursday he did not want to die.

″I think anybody who’s under 18 who is in the shape like I’m in, they can be rehabilitated,″ he said. ″I just hope that they let me live in prison. If I see somebody going down the same road that I’ve been going down, maybe I could say something to change his mind. ’Cause I’ve been there.″

In another interview, Roach said he would go willingly to his death.

″Won’t nobody have to drag me in there,″ he said, adding that he wouldn’t give prosecutors ″the satisfaction.″

Roach pleaded guilty to the 1977 murders of Carlotta Hartness, 14, and Tommy Taylor, 17. The Columbia teen-agers were attacked as they sat in a car at a park near their high school.

Taylor was shot in the face and Miss Hartness was taken to nearby woods, raped, shot in the back of the head and mutilated.

Roach, a native of Seneca, denied shooting the couple, blaming it on Shaw.

He said in his final statement, ″To the families of the victims, my heart is still with you in your sorrow. May you forgive me, just as I know that my Lord has done.″

David Bruck, a member of Roach’s defense team, said on ″Nightline″ that the murder of the teen-agers was ″horrible.″

″But it seems to me that if all the world except the United States has already turned its back on the execution of juvenile offenders who aren’t retarded like Terry is, then the United States has no need to go on with this business of brandishing the electric chair at its own children.″

Solicitor Jim Anders, who prosecuted the case, said on the same program that Roach was only months from his 18th birthday when the crimes were committed and knew right from wrong.

″I think that when people are this mean, this cruel, there is no other way to deal with them,″ Anders said.

While South Carolina law does not forbid the execution of minors, age is considered in sentencing. A bill outlawing the execution of minor offenders is pending in the state Senate.

https://apnews.com/article/ac5920fb296ed8e76f35d58d845d1d22

Anthony Woods South Carolina Death Row

Anthony Woods was sentenced to death by the State of South Carolina for the sexual assault and murder of Joanne Dubose. According to court documents Anthony Woods would break into the home of Joanne Dubose who would be sexually assaulted and murdered before having her home robbed. Anthony Woods would be arrested, convicted and sentenced to death

South Carolina Death Row Inmate List

Anthony Woods 2021 Information

Admission Date: 12/08/2006

Location: Broad River

Anthony Woods More News

Joanne Dubose, a fifty-three year old Manning school teacher, was last seen alive on Monday, June 2, 2003. When Dubose did not answer telephone calls for several days, a friend went to check on her Wednesday evening, June 4, 2003, and found Dubose lying on her bed, face up, with blood running off the side of her face. The friend called 911, and police arrived to find Dubose dead, with a sheet tied around her neck, and her right arm tied down; her legs were spread under the sheet, her tongue was protruding from her mouth, and her face was beginning to decompose.

In the early morning hours of June 5, 2003, Woods was arrested in connection with a burglary the previous evening of the residence of Linda Taylor, another Clarendon County woman.¹ A shoeprint impression taken from the shoes Woods was wearing at the time of his arrest was ultimately determined to be consistent with a shoeprint lifted from the floor of Dubose’s bedroom. DNA testing on the mattress pad and sheet from Dubose’s bed revealed semen which matched Woods’ DNA profile. A pathologist determined Dubose died from asphyxiation due to strangulation, and that she had been dead for approximately two days, indicating she died on June 3, 2003. The pathologist found no evidence of sexual trauma, but testified decomposition could have affected the ability to detect such trauma.

Woods was indicted and charged with murder, first degree burglary, and first degree CSC. The state sought the death penalty based upon the aggravating circumstances of burglary and criminal sexual conduct. Woods’ first trial, utilizing a jury pool from Marion County, ended in a hung jury and a mistrial in September 2006. Upon retrial in December 2006, a jury was selected from Clarendon County, and Woods was convicted on all counts; the jury recommended a sentence of death.

https://caselaw.findlaw.com/sc-supreme-court/1209476.html