"As any investigator [does],you go off of the evidence. Moore then Walked the scene and saw no evidence of any car parts or pieces and then had all units clear the scene.. He also told me that he and the boy had a deep sea fishing trip planned for July. "He wouldve called somebody.. She tells him that she and Tallon were called at 6:10 a.m. by HCSO and that they arrived on scene at 9 a.m. Burke said she didnt think Stephens injury looked like a gunshot wound. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. CLICK HERE. The man says that Stephen was harassed in his town and said people screwed with Stephens car battery. In light of historical information and the autopsy findings, it is the opinion of the pathologist that the decedent died as the result of blunt head trauma sustained in a motor vehicle crash in which the decedent was a pedestrian struck by a vehicle, the autopsy report says. But her dad was "a little iffy on accepting the offer. "[Stephen's mother] has said it was from a broken heart," Susanne Andrews, the founder of #StandingforStephen, a group that raised funds for the headstone, tells PEOPLE. part of an apparent hit and run. Investigators with the S.C. Highway Patrol (SCHP) received multiple tips in the aftermath of Smiths death linking his untimely demise to the Murdaugh family. Murdaugh Murders: Where is Buster Murdaugh now? That would be Stephen Smith, a gay teenager who was found dead in the street inHampton County. One of those deaths? Law enforcement officers believed Smith ran out of gas and started walking home before he was killed. So they can play that card like they care about everyone else. The Murdaugh familys ties to the legal system sparked questions about whether the investigation into Mallory's death was done properly. "My hope is that she finds answers that will give her a little bit of peace," she adds. And now a retired South Carolina state trooper, who led the investigation into Smiths death, told Fox News he had long suspected the case to have been a murder. The Murdaugh name was mentioned over 40 times throughout the course of the investigation which went cold less than a year after Smith was killed. Six years later, Sandy Smith Stephens mother is still grappling with the pain of not knowing what happened to her son. Todd Proctor told Fox News in an exclusivetelevisioninterview. The Hampton County Coroner's office authorized the autopsy. He was found dead in mysterious circumstances in the middle of Sandy Run Road on July 8, 2015. Stephen Smith, 19, was found dead in the middle of the road outside of Hampton with a gaping head wound, his skull partially crushed and his shoulder dislocated. Names and stories of the Murdaugh family surfaced six years ago regarding the death of 19-year-old Stephen Smith, a young gay man found dead in the middle of a lonely rural road with several deep gashes in his head, but investigators said they were never able to directly connect anyone in the family to the incident. The 19-year-old nursing student who had been a classmate of Buster Murdaugh at Wade Hampton High School was found dead with a head wound on Sandy Run. Here is a look at the events surrounding his indictments:June 7, 2021: Murdaugh calls police to report his wife Maggie, 52, and their son Paul, 22, have been fatally shot near a dog kennel on their property.June 23, 2021: An investigation into the hit-and-run death of Stephen Smith, 19, unsolved for six years, is reopened based on information . However, Randy said in the 20/20 documentary that he knew of "no connection whatsoever" between the Murdaugh family and Stephen Smiths death. FITSNews obtained all audio from the investigation file. Proctor told Fox News that was she said was true. His body was found in the middle of Sandy Run Road on July 8 with deep gashes to the head. He doesnt deserve that. The key is turned over to HCSO personnel. The final autopsy report said that Stephens cause of death was blunt head trauma, motor vehicle crash, pedestrian vs. vehicle. Stephen was not stupid, Stephens friend told FITSNews. She told me it was not her job to figure that out, it was mine., 6:14 p.m. SCHP: Brock notifies Booker that the victim did not have a gunshot wound according to the autopsy. Booker contacts Burns and Moore to gather further information. The coroners report on Smiths death said he was most likely hit in the head by the mirror of a passing tractor trailer truck as he walked along the dark, two-lane road after he ran out of gas. Smith was found dead just before 4:00 a.m. EDT on July 8, 2015. Sunday's vigil was held just days after news broke that disgraced South Carolina attorney Alex Murdaugh was indicted by a grand jury on murder charges in connection with the June 2021 deaths of his wife Maggie, 52, and 22-year-old son Paul. Cuts and bruises dotted his right hand. So Moore calls Smalls again and gets voicemail. They were very withdrawn with what they knew or thought.. Hours later, a pathologist at the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC) Dr. Erin Presnell ruled that Stephen was killed in a hit-and-run accident, a decision which was met with confusion and skepticism by investigators and those who knew Stephen. Todd Proctor, S.C. Highway Patrol's lead investigator in the 2015 Stephen Smith case, tells multiple news outlets that he still doesn't believe Smith died as a result of a hit-and-run. (WTOC/Provided) Initial reports indicated he died from blunt force trauma to the head. However, a pathologist at the Medical University of South Carolina ruled the death caused by "blunt head trauma sustained in a motor vehicle crash," according to the final autopsy report. She also said she believed that the Murdaughs influence extended to all realms of the investigation and was initially tainted when it was ruled a hit-and-run incident (see below for part of Sandy Smiths letter). 10:30 a.m. SCHP: Moore notes that Washington told him that this is when Joel and Sandy Smith were notified of their sons death. The killings also led the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division to open an investigation into the 2015 death of Stephen Smith, a 19-year-old man whose body was found in a road 10 miles from. His death was investigated by the South Carolina Department of Public Safety The case of Stephen Smith a 19-year-old man from Hampton, S.C. who was found dead in the middle of Sandy Run Road on July 8, 2015. The case of 19-year-old Stephen Smith is often mentioned in the same sentence on social media. He said that Stephen was being harassed on the night of his death at Sniders Crossroads on the way to Walterboro, South Carolina. Murdaugh Murders includes interviews with friends of the family, former and current, who shed light on the patriarch, Alex Murdaugh, and all of the trouble hes caused. She said that it was not a gunshot wound and no bullet or fragments were found during the X-ray and that it didnt look like a bullet wound in her opinion and that since the body was found in the roadway, she could only theorize that it had to be a motor vehicle that caused the death, Moores note said. One of the guys that supposedly did this, Stephen told his twin sister that he had a fling with the boy, she said. Proctor also wrote in his report that Greene was fired sometime between July 22 August 18 2019. Investigators had said at the time that it appeared Smith was hit by a . This did, however, cause theSouth Carolina Law Enforcement Division to open up the case in June 2021, but at this time it doesnt look like there have been any new developments since then. Editors Note: The timeline below is an outline of an investigation shared for the purpose of full disclosure as the case is getting attention from sleuths across the country. You can find out more and change our default settings with Cookies Settings. Sign up forPEOPLE's free True Crime newsletter for breaking crime news, ongoing trial coverage and details of intriguing unsolved cases. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Myth? 5:57 p.m. SCHP: Moore calls King to advise him what was occurring.. Investigators with the S.C. Highway Patrol ( SCHP). You become invincible in a way and you get a little liquor and you think youre untouchable.. Netflix 2023. No arrests have been made in Smith's death. 8:53 a.m. SLED: Burke meets with Moore at Peeples Rhoden Funeral Home in Hampton to provide documentation from the original crime scene and to transfer evidence. And when you dont have enough evidence to compel someone legally to speak with you you have to go off their willingness to speak to you.. Earlier this week, FITSNews exclusively reported that South Carolina Law Enforcement Division (SLED) opened an investigation into the death of Stephen Smith a Hampton County teenager whose death has been unsolved since 2015. Like the probe of the2019 boat crashthat killedMallory Beach, the 2015 investigation into Smiths death was chaotic from the beginning clouded by jurisdictional confusion and suspicions of investigative interference. All victims have been submitted by law enforcement or the victims' families. He asks the funeral home director if he has the clothing Smith was wearing and is told it was in a paper bag with the body. Not only is it believed he swept crimes committed by his family under the rug and has been involved in fraud, but hes also been accused of murder. Shortly after 1 p.m. SCHP: Duncan calls Stephen Smiths mother Sandy Smith. Tallon notes that an EMS worker stated that a projectile wound was located on the victims head the HCCO moved the victim prior to SLED Crime Scene arrival.. Randy "said he wanted to take the case and it would be free of charge, Stephanie said. He also said SLED has not contacted Proctor to assist in their investigationat the time of the interview. SLED opened the investigation based on information gathered during the course of the double murder investigation of Maggie and Paul Murdaugh, SLED spokesperson Tommy Crosby told FITSNews. 4:15 p.m. SCHP: Sgt. Ive been waiting on this day for 2,174 days, she said. Singleton tells Moore he wasnt at his desk and would call him back in 30 minutes. 11:29 a.m. SLED: Tallon and Burke attend autopsy at MUSC. 1:43 p.m. SLED: Agents leave MUSC and take evidence to their forensic laboratory. This is about a child that deserves to be memorialized and commemorated, and a mother to have support that she hadn't had.". David Rowell, of the SCHP, who tells him that Hampton County Sheriff T.C. Cookies collect information about your preferences and your device and are used to make the site work as you expect it to, to understand how you interact with the site, and to show advertisements that are targeted to your interests. . According to Live 5 News, the Murdaugh family is mentioned several times in the investigative files of Stephen Smith, who died by hit-and-run in July 2015. Crime scene photos obtained by FITSNews are horrific Stephens entire face was covered in blood that cascaded from a 7.25-inch gaping hole on the right side of his forehead. Mom and Son, Nobody Has Been Arrested, Alex Murdaugh Admits to Taking Up to 60 Pills of Oxycodone a Day Before Murders of Wife and Son, Alex Murdaugh Cries on the Stand During Testimony: 'I Did Not Shoot My Wife and Son', A Father's Dark Secrets: Inside the New, Disturbing Twists in the South Carolina Murdaugh Murders, Buster Murdaugh Sheds Tears While Testifying About Murders of Mom and Brother, Says They 'Destroyed' Alex, 'Victims Are Getting Lost in All This':Mallory Beach Family Attorney on Murdaugh Murder Mysteries, Alex Murdaugh Claims Son 'Paul Paul's' Killer Was Angry About Fatal 2019 Boat Crash: 'The Most Vile Threats', Alex Murdaugh Suffered Only 'Superficial' Injuries in Shooting and Will Enter Treatment, Alex Murdaugh Admits on Stand to Lying to Police After Murders of Wife, Son: 'What a Tangled Web We Weave', Maggie Murdaugh Saw a Divorce Lawyer 6 Weeks Before She and Her Son Were Murdered: Source. His car was discovered three miles away with the gas cap off. All betting content is intended for an audience ages 21+. Smiths mother, Sandy Smith, agrees. Upon entering the scene, agents observed that the scene was secured by HCSO personnel and yellow barrier tape, the SLED agent wrote. According to the autopsy, Greene was responsible for evidence transfer in the case. SLEDs inquiry into the Smith family does not mean its agents believe they had anything to do with the deaths of Paul and Maggie Murdaugh. Smith died on a rural road in Hampton County in 2015, in what was ruled a hit-and-run. Nothing about this case from the very beginning pointed towards it being a hit and run, Proctor said. In September 2016, Stephens mother Sandy Smith wrote a letter to lawmakers and police agencies pleading for help and claiming corruption in the investigation. Got something youd like to say in response to one of our articles? Whoever they are, she tells Duncan. The family member says that Stephen was recently acting secretive and started coming home late. A mother knows her child, and my son would not do that," Sandy said. At the time of his death, Paul was awaiting trial after being charged with several felonies in connection to the deadly crash, including boating under the influence. Paul Murdaugh, 22, and his mother, Maggie Murdaugh, 52, werefound shot to death June 7 at their familys hunting lodge in Colleton County, South Carolina, as CrimeOnline has previously reported. Murder, Money & Mystery: Were the Killings of a Mom and Son Connected to 3 Previous Deaths? But Smith's family refuses to believe it was an accident. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. Todd Proctor, former South Carolina Highway Patrol investigator, told Fox News this week that it looked like Stephens body was placed in the middle of the road. 8:25 a.m. SLED: Tallon and Burke arrive at the scene. Austin North height: How tall is the Outer Banks actor? Murdaugh's. SCHP: A man who describes himself as Stephens boyfriend (the family disputes this) was interviewed by Duncan and Rowell. Smalls said hell call right back but doesnt. Of course, the fact SLED is interviewing Sandy Smith means it is taking seriously the suggestion that the Murdaugh family may have had something to do with the death of her son. We have got to keep the light on his story and to keep the fire underneath other people's behinds to get it solved. Stephen Smith, 19, died on a rural road in Hampton County, S.C., in 2015 in a controversial homicide that was officially ruled a hit-and-run. She had no evidence other than that for the statement being put in the report., Proctor said that he explained to her that law enforcement officers had no evidence of this individual being struck by a vehicle.. An official autopsy had ruled the death as a possible hit-and-run, yet some authorities refuted that report after making their own observations at the scene. The family of Stephen Smith wants more investigation into his death, which was declared a hit-and-run. Sandy has been begging law enforcement officials for years to open an investigation into her sons unsolved death. Like the probe of the 2019 boat crash that killed Mallory Beach, the 2015 investigation into Smiths death was chaotic from the beginning clouded by jurisdictional confusion and suspicions of investigative interference. A spokesperson confirmed the investigation into the 2015 hit-and-run case, citing "the information gathered in the Murdaugh homicide investigation." A wooden memorial erected for Stephen Nicholas Smith, 19, who was found dead on a country road in 2015. In the summer of 2015, 19-year-old Stephen Smith was found dead in the middle of a rural highway in South Carolina. Death of Stephen Smith, July 8, 2015. Sandy Smith, speaking to the Guardian shortly after her sons July 8, 2015, death, said that she thinks she knows who killed him. 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