Two elementary-aged children are facing involuntary manslaughter charges for shooting a farmer in South Carolina.
An 8-year-old and 9-year-old in Walhalla, South Carolina, faces charges after Danny Andrew Smith was found shot to death on his property on June 23rd. His body was discovered slumped over a running tractor that had crashed into a tree after his wife asked law enforcement to help locate him when he failed to return home that day. The 62-year-old had a .22 caliber gunshot wound in his back that authorities believe resulted from the children shooting him.
Oconee County Sheriff Mike Crenshaw stated that after consulting with the Solicitor’s Office and “based on the evidence obtained” in their ongoing probe, they believe that the unidentified boys “discharged a firearm in a reckless manner in the direction of Mr. Smith” as he was bush hogging on his family property. A rifle was recovered and determined to be the murder weapon. Crenshaw said that it is still “undetermined” which child fired the fateful shot.
Both boys are in custody with their parents since South Carolina law states “juveniles under the age of 10 cannot be detained.”
