Authorities Say They Believed Stephen Smith’s Death Was a Homicide as Far Back as 2021

At the hour of his 2015 passing, Stephen Smith was a 19-year-old undergrad who was contemplating to turn into a medical caretaker Experts in South Carolina say they have accepted Stephen Smith’s 2015 passing was a crime as far back as 2021, as per a public statement conveyed Wednesday evening by the South Carolina Policing.

The delivery expressed that on June 23, 2021, the office opened an examination concerning Smith’s demise — which was at first controlled a quick in and out — after specialists from SLED “got data about his passing and in this way checked on” the case document from the South Carolina Parkway Watch.

“From SCHP case notes it was obvious that the SCHP didn’t really accept that Mr. Smith’s demise was a quick in and out by an engine vehicle,” the SLED explanation says.

SLED has said the examination concerning Smith’s passing was returned in light of data acquired while researching the killings of Maggie and Paul Murdaugh, the spouse and child of Alex Murdaugh, who was sentenced for the homicides this month and gave two life sentences.

“SLED is examining Stephen Smith’s demise as a murder,” SLED representative Renée Wunderlich tells Individuals. “We’ve gained ground in the examination. The examination stays dynamic and continuous.” Smith was tracked down dead with profound slices to his head in a dull Hampton Region street on July 8, 2015. His vehicle was found three miles away with the gas cap off.

At the hour of his passing, Smith was a 19-year-old Orangeburg-Calhoun Specialized Understudy who was considering to turn into a medical caretaker.

Smith’s mother Sandy Smith sent off a GoFundMe crusade last week expecting to fund-raise to unearth his body for a free post-mortem to demonstrate that he didn’t die of a quick in and out.

The GoFundMe has raised almost $89,000 starting around Tuesday night. “SLED authorities have uncovered that they didn’t have to unearth Stephen Smith’s body to persuade them that his passing was a crime. Notwithstanding, they will be available and partake in any exhumation of Stephen’s body to assemble more proof.

We are focused on figuring out what truly occurred, and getting the harmony and equity the Smith family merits” Smith family lawyers Eric Dull and Ronnie Richter said in a joint explanation.

Stephen Smith’s death is now officially being considered a homicide by South Carolina Law Enforcement Division, according to family attorney Eric Bland.
The death was previously classified as vehicular manslaughter. pic.twitter.com/7Ctv2Beg8W

— Brian Entin (@BrianEntin) March 22, 2023

The law office added that during its call with SLED, the police organization uncovered they needed to hold on until after Murdaugh’s preliminary to report that they had managed Smith’s demise a crime “out of worry that witnesses wouldn’t be as impending under the Murdaugh effective reach.”

Now that the shamed legal advisor’s preliminary is finished, Boring Richter Law office said more “assets have been committed and will be given to Smith’s case.”

Richter added that SLED is freely moving Smith’s mother Sandy in her “endeavors to figure out what truly befell her child. They have communicated their sympathies to the Smith family and will keep on working determinedly to deal with those answerable for Stephen’s passing. We are pleased to be their accomplice in tracking down equity.”

Smith’s case was at first researched by the South Carolina Parkway Watch prior to going cold in 2016, as per FITSNews. In that examination, the Murdaugh name — a strong nearby family known for their longstanding law office — was referenced many times as perhaps being associated with Smith’s demise, FITSnews revealed. In any case, no individual from the Murdaugh family was at any point addressed in his passing and no charges were at any point documented. On Monday, Buster Murdaugh, Alex’s just enduring child, fervently denied he had a say in the baffling passing.

“I have made an honest effort to disregard the horrendous bits of hearsay about my contribution in Stephen Smith’s sad passing that keep on being distributed in the media as I lament over the ruthless killings of my mom and brother,” Buster, 27, said in a proclamation on Monday delivered through his lawyer, Jim Griffin.

“I love them so much and miss them appallingly,” he composed.