By: Marshall Ramsey II, Worthy News U.S. Correspondent
(Events mentioned in this story happened in 2012 with the exception of the last article regarding the kidnaping of Deandrene McHoney and Leandre Jenkins, which happened in 2013.)
ST. STEPHEN, South Carolina - (WorthyNews) The St. Stephen community is grieving the loss of yet another resident.
Bradley Blake, a 21 year old resident of St. Stephen, South Carolina, was found dead in his car Thursday morning after visiting his girlfriend, Sha Sha Cleveland, a senior at Timberland High School.
"He was very easy-going," said Sha Sha. "He was the kindest persons. Her was a real sweetheart. It was our fifth Christmas together."
Evidence at the scene suggest Mr. Blake died due to multiple gunshot wounds to the face. Mr. Blake's car was also found running early Thursday, suggesting Mr. Blake was int he car at the time of his death.
Devonte Gaillard, 20, of Echo Lane in Pineville was arrested Thurrsday night and charged with murder, and is currently being held at the Berkeley County jail. It is unknown at this time if he knew either Bradley or Sha Sha.
Despite the swiftness in which Mr. Gaillard was arrested and charged with Mr. Blake's murder, questions remain. Witnesses say Mr. Blake was found with two gunshots to the face and his car running, yet police refuse to confirm this, only saying that he had been shot. Why? Also, according to the section B, page 1 story in the Post and Courier, everyone interviewed seemed to have a favorable opinion of Mr. Blake, so why such a quick apprehension of Mr. Gaillard, especially when it is not known if Mr. Gaillard, Mr. Blake, and Miss Cleveland knew each other? And again, according tot he Post and Courier, Mr. Gaillard had no no criminal record except for a two year probation conviction for second-degree burglary, so what background could Mr. Gaillard have that would lead police to believe he was involved.
This is not the only incident in the St. Stephen area where police actions were considered suspect. On October 30, Ronald Smith, a 53-year-old resident of Bonneau, South Carolina, died while evading police after a reported thievery of over-the-counter medication from a Dollar General in the area.
Some of the details in question are as follows: According to Chief Waters of the St. Stephen Police Department, only two officers were on ;duty at the time of the robbery and subsequent chase after stopping Mr. Smith at an intersection. If that be the case, then why was a third officer lying n wait for him after the chase began? This suggests they knew the route Mr. Smith was going to take once the chase began.
Another questionable action is in the official police report. According to the November 1, 2012 edition of the Post and courier, the initial filing stated there was contact between a St. Stephen PD police cruiser and Mr. Smith's pick-up. A later filing said there had been no contact. This leads one to believe that police had attempted to run Mr. Smith off the road without using a PITT maneuver and then wanted to cover it up.
Yet a third, and possibly the most damning action is a statement by Chief Waters: "We had dealt with him [Mr. Smith] in the past," Waters said. "But we didn't know who it was at the time, until it was too late." This indicates that St. Stephen police chief waters and other members of the St. Stephen police force had plans to run someone off the road and kill them, only they "got" the wrong person.
In a related incident, a woman and her daughter were kidnapped and the daughter raped due to wilfull neglicence on October 28 of this week. Deandrene McHoney and her daughter Leandre Jenkins were assaulted by Telly Darnell McClam of St. Stephen. According to Mrs. McHoney, St. Stephen PD refused to "aggressively pursue his [McClam's] arrest, because she had declined to cooperate with authorities trying to prosecute another case in the spring.
In April of 2012, McClam "was arrested in April 2012 after ramming the woman's car and kidnapping her," according to Chief Waters. Charges were eventually dropped in this case. However, this was more than a year ago.
"The police told me there's nothing they could do, that we'll just have to wait and see," McHoney said. "We waited, and now we see what happened," referring to the kidnapping of herself and her daughter and the rape of Miss Jenkins. Chief Waters, however, said investigators didn't have enough evidence to pursue his arrest.
http://www.postandcourier.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20121228/PC16/121229410&template=artpex
http://www.postandcourier.com/article/20121101/PC16/121109939
http://www.live5news.com/story/23806627/a
http://www.wbtv.com/story/23806627/a
(Events mentioned in this story happened in 2012 with the exception of the last article regarding the kidnaping of Deandrene McHoney and Leandre Jenkins, which happened in 2013.)
ST. STEPHEN, South Carolina - (WorthyNews) The St. Stephen community is grieving the loss of yet another resident.
Bradley Blake, a 21 year old resident of St. Stephen, South Carolina, was found dead in his car Thursday morning after visiting his girlfriend, Sha Sha Cleveland, a senior at Timberland High School.
"He was very easy-going," said Sha Sha. "He was the kindest persons. Her was a real sweetheart. It was our fifth Christmas together."
Evidence at the scene suggest Mr. Blake died due to multiple gunshot wounds to the face. Mr. Blake's car was also found running early Thursday, suggesting Mr. Blake was int he car at the time of his death.
Devonte Gaillard, 20, of Echo Lane in Pineville was arrested Thurrsday night and charged with murder, and is currently being held at the Berkeley County jail. It is unknown at this time if he knew either Bradley or Sha Sha.
Despite the swiftness in which Mr. Gaillard was arrested and charged with Mr. Blake's murder, questions remain. Witnesses say Mr. Blake was found with two gunshots to the face and his car running, yet police refuse to confirm this, only saying that he had been shot. Why? Also, according to the section B, page 1 story in the Post and Courier, everyone interviewed seemed to have a favorable opinion of Mr. Blake, so why such a quick apprehension of Mr. Gaillard, especially when it is not known if Mr. Gaillard, Mr. Blake, and Miss Cleveland knew each other? And again, according tot he Post and Courier, Mr. Gaillard had no no criminal record except for a two year probation conviction for second-degree burglary, so what background could Mr. Gaillard have that would lead police to believe he was involved.
This is not the only incident in the St. Stephen area where police actions were considered suspect. On October 30, Ronald Smith, a 53-year-old resident of Bonneau, South Carolina, died while evading police after a reported thievery of over-the-counter medication from a Dollar General in the area.
Some of the details in question are as follows: According to Chief Waters of the St. Stephen Police Department, only two officers were on ;duty at the time of the robbery and subsequent chase after stopping Mr. Smith at an intersection. If that be the case, then why was a third officer lying n wait for him after the chase began? This suggests they knew the route Mr. Smith was going to take once the chase began.
Another questionable action is in the official police report. According to the November 1, 2012 edition of the Post and courier, the initial filing stated there was contact between a St. Stephen PD police cruiser and Mr. Smith's pick-up. A later filing said there had been no contact. This leads one to believe that police had attempted to run Mr. Smith off the road without using a PITT maneuver and then wanted to cover it up.
Yet a third, and possibly the most damning action is a statement by Chief Waters: "We had dealt with him [Mr. Smith] in the past," Waters said. "But we didn't know who it was at the time, until it was too late." This indicates that St. Stephen police chief waters and other members of the St. Stephen police force had plans to run someone off the road and kill them, only they "got" the wrong person.
In a related incident, a woman and her daughter were kidnapped and the daughter raped due to wilfull neglicence on October 28 of this week. Deandrene McHoney and her daughter Leandre Jenkins were assaulted by Telly Darnell McClam of St. Stephen. According to Mrs. McHoney, St. Stephen PD refused to "aggressively pursue his [McClam's] arrest, because she had declined to cooperate with authorities trying to prosecute another case in the spring.
In April of 2012, McClam "was arrested in April 2012 after ramming the woman's car and kidnapping her," according to Chief Waters. Charges were eventually dropped in this case. However, this was more than a year ago.
"The police told me there's nothing they could do, that we'll just have to wait and see," McHoney said. "We waited, and now we see what happened," referring to the kidnapping of herself and her daughter and the rape of Miss Jenkins. Chief Waters, however, said investigators didn't have enough evidence to pursue his arrest.
http://www.postandcourier.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20121228/PC16/121229410&template=artpex
http://www.postandcourier.com/article/20121101/PC16/121109939
http://www.live5news.com/story/23806627/a
http://www.wbtv.com/story/23806627/a
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