A South Carolina’s murder was made even worse due to a disastrous development.
This, as the Oconee County Sheriff’s Office said that the 8-year-old and 9-year-old boys can face charges because of their suspected involvement in the death of Danny Andrew Smith.
On Friday, the OCSO submitted a petition to the S.C. family court as it pushed to file formal charges against the two minors who are yet to be identified. They will be charged with involuntary manslaughter as the victim was discovered dead from shooting last month inside the family’s property.
The victim, a farmer aged 62, was discovered lifeless as he slouched over an operating tractor in the evening of June 23. He sustained on his back one gunshot wound from a .22 caliber.
“After a consultation with the Solicitor’s Office, and based on the evidence obtained in our ongoing investigation, we believe that both juvenile males discharged a firearm in a reckless manner in the direction of Mr. Smith who was bush hogging on some family property,” Oconee County Sheriff Mike Crenshaw said in an official statement.
“At this time, it is still undetermined which shot ultimately struck and killed Mr. Smith. However, based upon South Carolina law, the hand of one is the hand of all and that is why family court has been petitioned in regards to charging both juveniles with involuntary manslaughter,” the sheriff furthered.
The victim’s wife has sought help from law enforcement in finding his husband who did not return home that night of the crime. His body was eventually found by the police on the tractor that hit a tree.
Authorities have not yet finalized the suspects’ motive in killing the farmer, but it has secured the rifle used in the shooting, People reported.
The two minors are still under their parents’ custody while the investigation progresses. The South Carolina law also dictates that “juveniles under the age of 10 cannot be detained.”
