Want to keep up with the latest crime coverage? 5:37 a.m. SCHP: Sgt. As any investigator, you go off of the evidence there was no evidence that pointed towards this being a hit and run, or a vehicle even being involved in it. Todd Proctor told Fox News in an exclusivetelevisioninterview. 6:25 a.m. SCHP: Moore arrives at the scene and speaks with Hampton County Coroner Ernie Washington, who tells him it is a homicide. Stephen's twin sister, Stephanie Smith, remembered the moment the coroner called her home about Stephen's death. Photo: Facebook. In early June, a son and mother, both members of a. 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. Perry Singleton and Chief Billy Jarrell, the SLED report said. Hemlepp tells PEOPLE: "I know there are people who know what happened to Stephen. Maybe there's even manufactured evidence in this case. Hampton County Coroners Office: The first of 3 death certificates for Stephen Smith was issued by Washington to the family. The Hampton community is hoping a suspect can be identified, after 19-year-old Stephen Smith was found dead on Sandy Run Road in an apparent hit and run. The South Carolina Highway Patrol received an anonymous tip connecting the Murdaugh family to the hit-and-run death of Stephen Smith back in 2015, the New York Post reports. For more information, please read our Legal Disclaimer. "That no family, no community, no friends, no one had come to help her try to get a headstone. 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. No they dont they care about protecting themselves.. It has been apparent from the first week of the investigation that authorities are covering up critical evidence and we no longer know who to trust, Smith wrote. He would not let a car, let alone a truck, get close enough to hit him. 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. A spokesperson confirmed the investigation into the 2015 hit-and-run case, citing "the information gathered in the Murdaugh homicide investigation." Shes an investigative journalist from Kansas who has worked for newspapers in Missouri, Illinois, and South Carolina before making the switch to FITS. After receiving a search warrant, agents searched the area and the vehicle, the SLED report said. What I ended up finding [was] there were a lot of people who didnt want to assist or communicate with us, he said. Murdaugh is on trial for murder for the deaths, Murdaugh Murders: Did Alex Murdaugh hire someone to kill him? The death of 19-year-old Stephen Smith was originally ruled a hit-and-run in 2015 when his body was found in the middle of a road 15 miles from the Murdaugh hunting cabin. Mandy Matneyis the news director at FITSNews. All betting content is intended for an audience ages 21+. 5:57 p.m. SCHP: Moore calls King to advise him what was occurring.. A man driving on the road that evening called police just before 5 a.m.to report a person lying in the roadside,according to police reports. Mallory Beach's parents also spoke out in the 20/20 documentary, remembering their daughter who died after an accident involving a Murdaugh family boat. MAIT is a division of the South Carolina HighwayPatrol unit that initially responded to the scene. 4:40 p.m. SCHP: Moore calls Washington and asks him if the hit-and-run was his ruling as well. 6:00 a.m. SCHP: Duncan, on the way to the scene, calls Booker said he was told it appeared to be a homicide and SLED was taking it over. Booker says he was advised there was a possible gunshot wound to the victims head. In June, SLED announced that they planned to exhume her body. MAIT takes photos of the body and Smiths clothes. They call him back to tell him they didnt find anything. July 8, 2015: Stephen Smith, 19, is found dead on Sandy Run Road in Hampton County.No arrest is made in the case. How injury occurred: Subject was apparently hit by a motor vehicle possibly a truck. 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.. 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. The case of 19-year-old Stephen Smith is often mentioned in the same sentence on social media. It just doesnt make any sense. The19-year-old was found lying in the middle of the roadway with severe head traumain the early morning hours of July 8, 2015. Even after the eight-year veteran enhanced his postseason legend with another prolific stretch . Or an issue youd like to address proactively? According to NewsNation, Stephens mom Sandy is hoping for answers about her sons death during Alex Murdaughs trial. Sandy Smith, speaking to the Guardian shortly after her sons July 8, 2015, death, said that she thinks she knows who killed him. Randolph "Randy" Murdaugh is the older brother of Alex Murdaugh, a member of the influential Hampton family. Duncan didnt ask any follow-up questions and never mentioned this rumor in his notes. Proctor then spoke with Kelly Greene, Hampton County deputy coroner and a SLED agent who both attended the autopsy and said they didnt make any reference to the pathologist about the victim being struck by a vehicle, only that he was found in the road. (latest case updates), Murdaugh Murders: Was Paul Murdaugh charged for Mallory Beachs death? Or "king's ransom" waiting to be found A Slap In the Face: Update In The Stephen Smith Case And Murdaugh Murders, Murdaugh Murders: The Latest On The Boat Crash Lawsuit And Obstruction Of Justice Investigation, Boat Crash Lawsuit: Murdaughs Refuse To Settle, Withhold Financial Records From Victims Family, Apparent Human Trafficking Raid Jolts Coastal South Carolina Neighborhood, Murdaugh Murders: South Carolina Attorney General Must Step In And Remove Rogue Solicitor, Powerful Storms, Tornadoes Sweep Through SC: Photos From The Upstate to Lowcountry, SC State House: Speaker Of The House Livid After Close Friend Loses Primary Fight, Mark Powells Palmetto Past & Present: Lost Confederate Gold, Ron Paul: The Anti-War Movement Roars Back To Life, LIVE FEED Murdaugh Murders Trial: Day Twenty-Six. 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 family keeps his casket open so that people could see what they did to him. The statements are the latest to be revealed in court filings by Dominion as part of its billion-dollar defamation suit against the . To submit your loved one for . 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. EXCLUSIVE : A former South Carolina state trooper who led the 2015 cold case involving an alleged fatal hit-and-run is speaking out exclusively to Fox News, describing how the prominent. After interviewing several sources who knew the Murdaugh brothers, SCHP detective Proctormade some significant assessments of the family. Well keep you updated if and when we hear anything. On July 8, 2015 Stephen Smith was found dead in the middle of Sandy Run Road with a 7.25-inch gaping hole on the right side of his forehead and no other major injuries. Sandy Smith didnt reveal who she thought killed her son. According to court documents, Alex . In the aftermath of her sons death, Sandy said shes learned that there are two different justice systems in the Palmetto State one for people like the Murdaughs and another for everyone else. Then it turned out it was a hit and run. The family has now offered a $100,000 reward for information leading to an arrest and conviction. in. Families, entire communities are still reeling . 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. 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. Stephen Smith, a teenager from Hampton . 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. Murdaugh Murders: Where is Buster Murdaugh now? When asked if theyve had been contacted by a lawyer, the family member tells police that Randy Murdaugh was the second person to call Stephens father after the coroner on the day of Stephens death. On Thursday, Sandy Smith said she received a call from an official with the S.C. State Law Enforcement Division (SLED). It was determined that the wound in the victims head was not caused by a fired projectile., The pathologist stated that it appeared the victim was struck by a vehicle., Tallon contacted Singleton to tell him SCHP would need to be contacted to investigate, They collect the Gun Shot Residue (GSR) kit from MUSC, Cause of death: Blunt head trauma due to motor vehicle crash, 7.25-inch laceration on the right side of Stephens forehead along with bruises on both sides of his forehead, Right side of skull has multiple fractures, bruising and contusions, He has smalls cuts on the inside of his left arm, He has cuts and bruises on his right hand, He has cuts on his right arm, including a 6-inch irregular cut on inside of right arm, 12 3-inch aggregate of irregular to angulated abrasions on right arm, Smalls tells him that the doctor was ruling it a motor vehicle accident and they were turning it over to us., Moore then calls Singleton and asks for any notes or information he had.. He often had car troubles, but they had trouble imagining him walkingin the middle of the road, his family told Inside Edition Digital in an interview. Moore tells him to go to the scene and sit there between 3 and 5 a.m. to document what type of traffic was moving at that time in the morning. I guarantee you that Stephen was not in that road, she said. 9 a.m. SCHP: Booker meets at Peeples Rhoden Funeral Home with Moore, Duncan, Rowell and Burke to examine the body. 3 Stephen Smith's body was found in the middle of a rural road Credit: Facebook 3 Buster, Maggie, Paul and Alex, all members of the prominent Murdaugh family Credit: Facebook The key located in the victims pocket was used to open the vehicle. Ready to watch a new true crime docuseries thatll make your head spin? Randy Murdaugh was the second person to call my dad after the coroner," Stephanie told ABC. "He had his cell phone, he was six miles from the house," she insisted. This database currently consists of unsolved homicides from 50 Florida counties, 46 U.S. states, and 3 international countries. The rumor thats going around Hampton that everybody keeps coming up to me and saying it was Murdaugh boys, she says. Hes never said anything bad about Stephen. Singleton tells Moore he wasnt at his desk and would call him back in 30 minutes. 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. Last Sunday afternoon, family and friends of Stephen Smith, a South Carolina teen who died under mysterious circumstances in 2015, traveled to the Gooding Cemetery in Hampton County, S.C. "I know that they're working hard and that this is not a cold case," he says. SLED is investigating every angle in the Murdaugh case something that Sandy wishes they would have done with Stephens death six years ago. 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.. Murdaugh Murders: What happened to Gloria Satterfield? Cr. This decision to rule his death a hit-and-run appeared to skew the investigation by SCHPs Multi-disciplinary Accident Investigation Team (MAIT) who typically investigate accidents, not murders. Source: YouTube/Law&Crime Network (video still) Buster Murdaugh I asked her why she stated that in the report and her answer was because he was found in the road, Proctor wrote. Earlier this week, the agency opened up a tip line exclusively for the high-profile case. Smith's death was attributed to severe head trauma and controversially ruled a hit and run at the time, which the family and some investigators have disputed, and official investigations into his . Additionally, the episode will reveal new details in the death of Stephen Smith, who was found dead in 2015 after an alleged hit and run. They found engine oil in the vehicle but could not get the car to start. We have got to keep the light on his story and to keep the fire underneath other people's behinds to get it solved. Moore tells him to make sure that the coroner and HCSO are also ruling it a homicide. Smith had a head wound consistent with being shot, the coroner explained in a report. The coroner stated that he had made contact with the pathologist, Dr. Presnell and she stated that she would be willing to change her report to read however he wanted it, Proctor wrote. Whoever did this to Stephen should go to prison. Moore calls Croft to ask which agents were at the scene that morning. HAMPTON, S.C. (WCSC) - A new headstone for Stephen Smith was unveiled at the Gooding Cemetery in Hampton County Sunday. "At that point, I hadbeen working highway patrol for 15 years, I've worked several hit and run collisions, and nothing about this case from the very beginning pointed towards it being a hit and run," Inv. However, his mother, Sandy, told the the Hampton County Guardian, part of the USA TODAY Network, in 2015. Stephen Smith was 19 when he died in what investigators called a hit-and-run in Hampton County in 2015. The Smith case had originally been ruled a hit-and-run despite evidence from . Send your tips tomandy@fitsnews.com. Moore describes Smith as there were no visible injuries to the deceased, other than his head wound and a small amount of road rash on both arms, Actual or presumed Date of Death: July 8, 2015, Cause of death: Blunt force trauma (probably pedestrian in motor vehicle accident possibly struck by side mirror). Alex Murdaugh called 911 Saturday and said he had been shot as he stood at the side of a road in Hampton County, South Carolina, according to a statement from the state police. Submit your letter to the editor (or guest column) via email HERE. The forensic pathologist who. RELATED | Murdaugh Murders: The Latest On The Boat Crash Lawsuit And Obstruction Of Justice Investigation. Sandy told Duncan that she heard rumors about the Murdaugh boys had something to do with Stephens death. She also says shes received a book deal offer and even a Netflix movie opportunity about the case, but shes turned it all down. A SCHP flyer is made asking for tips in the case. The final autopsy report said that Stephens cause of death was blunt head trauma, motor vehicle crash, pedestrian vs. vehicle. Im tired of them putting Stephen on the back burner, Sandy Smith told FITSNews. Mother and son were gunned down on their 1,770-acre estate in the small town of Islandton. 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