Police in South Carolina currently view two individuals as persons of interest in connection with the death of teenager Stephen Smith, whose body was found in the middle of a rural road in 2015, according to a report from local outlet FitsNews.
The South Carolina Law Enforcement Division (SLED) has had two people on their radar for killing Smith – neither of whom will be named by The Daily Wire because they have not been charged with a crime. The persons of interest are not part of the Murdaugh family, which has long been rumored to be connected to Smith’s death.
The stepfather of one of the persons of interest implicated the two, who were teenagers at the time of Smith’s death, according to the report. The stepfather was encouraged to come forward by Randy Murdaugh, whose little brother Alex Murdaugh was convicted last month of murdering his wife Maggie and son Paul.
The stepfather allegedly said his stepson told him his friend was driving a vehicle that “struck and killed Stephen Smith.” The stepfather said the reason he passed the information on five months after Smith’s death was “because Randy Murdaugh told him to call,” the report says.
A police officer told investigators that the stepfather told him that his stepson’s friend “was drunk and hit something,” FitsNews reported.
“He said he went back the next day to see what it he had hit and he (saw) a lot of police out there. So he talked to one of the cops, and then he had left and then he learned – I guess by media – that somebody had been killed in that same area. That’s why the police were there,” the police officer said of the stepfather.
This police officer also told investigators that the stepfather told him the friend called his stepson crying about what had happened. The stepson then walked outside to throw up, the stepfather reportedly told the police officer.
Smith was the alleged victim of a hit-and-run in 2015, a death that has since been ruled a homicide.
Investigators initially said in 2015 that Smith apparently was hit by a vehicle and killed while standing near his own car on the side of the road after apparently running out of gas. An investigator’s report obtained by The Island Packet initially said Smith had a “defensive wound” on his hand, but the medical examiner wrote that Smith had been struck in the head by a car mirror during a hit-and-run.
No glass or other car debris was found in the area where Smith was found dead, however, the Packet reported.
The inconsistencies led many to speculate that Smith, who was openly gay, may have been murdered.
Many also suggested that Buster Murdaugh, Alex’s son, was involved in Smith’s death without providing any evidence to support the claim. Buster has denied any involvement.
“These baseless rumors of my involvement with Stephen and his death are false. I unequivocally deny any involvement in his death, and my heart goes out to the Smith family,” Buster said in a statement last month.