College student, 21, and her stepfather, 45, are shot dead in road rage attack over fender bender while he was arriving to drop off keys to the new home she'd just bought
A college student and her stepfather have been shot dead in an apparent road rage attack following a minor car crash.
Laura Ashley Anderson, 21, and Charles Nicholas Wall, 45, were killed on Monday outside of the home Anderson had just purchased in Georgetown, South Carolina, where Wall was arriving to drop off a spare set of keys.
Ty Sheem Ha Sheem Walters III, was arrested and charged with murder after cops said he rear-ended Wall as the stepfather was turning into his daughter's driveway, and then killed Wall, Anderson, and injured one other person in a fit of rage.
'I'm devastated. Heartbroken. Confused. Angry. I don't understand. Who shoots innocent people?' asked Kimberly Wall, wife and mother of the two victims, in a gut-wrenching Facebook post.
Laura Ashley Anderson, 21, (left) and Charles Nicholas Wall, 45, (right with her) were killed on Monday outside of the home Anderson had just purchased in Gerogetown, South Carolina
Wall was turning into his daughter's driveway near this intersection when police say that Walters rear-ended him, and then opened fire rather than filing a police report
According to family members and friends, Anderson had recently purchased a small home near the intersection of Indian Hut Road and Highmarket Street, and was excited to start her new adult life.
'She wanted to be a teacher like her momma. She was getting ready to start school. She was getting everything in order. Everything was starting to fall in place for her,' family friend Lynn Lambert told WPDE-TV.
Lambert said that Anderson was just finishing up the process of moving in, and was getting rid of some childhood bunk beds by selling them online, but when she arrived at the home to meet the seller she realized she'd forgotten her keys.
At about 5pm on Monday, Wall was driving over to drop off a set of keys as Anderson waited in the front yard, Lambert said. Wall was turning into his daughter's driveway when someone rear-ended his car.
Police say that the other driver, Walters, then opened fire in a shooting rampage rather than exchanging insurance information and filing a simple police report about the minor fender bender.
Family friends say that Wall (left) was a devoted and supportive stepfather, and that Anderson (right) was excited to start her new adult life in her first home
According to the arrest warrants, Walters fired a gun at Wall and struck him at least twice in the head and torso, while hitting Anderson at least one time in the head. Both the stepfather and stepdaughter were killed.
A third person, Paul McConnell, was struck struck at least once by gunfire before being bludgeoned in the head by the shooter, but is expected to survive, according to warrants in the case.
It wasn't immediately clear whether McConnell was an unconnected bystander or a friend of Anderson or Wall. Perhaps, he was the person who was interested in buying the bunk beds from the college student.
According to an incident report, when cops arrived on the scene, one victim had already been transported, another was receiving CPR from paramedics, and a third was walking around dazed with a gunshot wound to his left wrist.
Police established a perimeter, and quickly received reports that a person matching the suspect description was spotted fleeing on foot down Georgetown Highway toward Andrews.
As cops approached the man, later identified as Walters, he ran into the woods in an attempt to escape. Police deployed K-9 units in a manhunt, and Walters was taken into custody a short time later.
Police say that Walters he ran into the woods seen above in an attempt to escape. Police deployed K-9 units in a manhunt, and Walters was taken into custody a short time later.
'I'm having to bury one of my children and my husband. It's such a freak thing. I don't know why this would happen. I just don't understand,' Kimberly Wall told WBMF-TV. 'It's just devastating. I don't know how we're going to go forward.'
Lambert expressed her shock at young Anderson's life being cut short: 'She won't get to get to get married, she won't get to have children.'
Walters, a Myrtle Beach resident, is charged with two counts of murder and one count of attempted murder.
At a bond hearing on Wednesday morning, he was ordered held without bail. It was not clear whether he had an attorney to speak on his behalf.
'He has taken two of my best friends, three miles from my house,' a sobbing Kimberly Wall told the judge at the hearing by videolink.
Walters stood silently in an orange inmate jumpsuit as the mother wept. His next court hearing is scheduled for late September.
