Minor Boys Charged With Manslaughter Of 62-Year-Old Man In South Carolina

Two minor boys face criminal charges—involuntary manslaughter in a cold-blooded shooting of Danny Andrew Smith, a 62-year-old man, earlier last week in South Carolina. As stated in a press release by the Oconee County Sheriff’s office on Thursday, cops got a whiff of the crime after the deceased man’s wife alerted them about her missing husband after rounds of search at their property.

After a deeper probe into the incident, officials came to know that Smith was murdered—and was found unresponsive and slumped over the steering wheel of his tractor, which was reportedly still running but had spiraled out of control down an embankment before it struck a tree, according to ABC News. Smith met with an untimely death after succumbing to a single gunshot wound on his back. While it’s unclear as to which of the boys pulled the trigger that cost Smith his life, officials are investigating deep into the matter.

“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,” said Oconee County Sheriff Mike Crenshaw, as per the report. “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,” he added.

As per the laws in South Carolina, juveniles under the age of 10 can’t be detained, so the boys have been placed under the custody of their parents as judicial proceedings are underway. Cops maintained that the crime was committed using a .22 caliber rifle, which has been recovered and examined by the SLED forensics lab in Columbia, South Carolina.

A statement by the Oconee County Sheriff’s Office said: “The Sheriff's Office is continuing its investigation and due to that fact, no information will be released that will identify the juveniles in this case. At this time, no information about motive or where the firearm was obtained will be released due to the ongoing investigation and any additional details will be released as conditions and developments warrant.”

Further details into the crime are being investigated.