2 boys, ages 8 and 9, charged in fatal shooting of South Carolina retiree on tractor
WESTMINSTER, S.C – Two South Carolina boys, ages 8 and 9, have been charged in connection with the fatal shooting of a man riding a tractor on his family’s property last month.
The boys are charged with involuntary manslaughter in the June 23 death of Danny Andrew Smith, 62, of Westminster. According to the Oconee County Sheriff’s Office, a petition was filed last week in family court.
Smith retired a couple of months before he was slain, Sheriff Mike Crenshaw said.
Smith’s death is another blow to an already grieving family. His sister, Vickie Wilbanks, told WSPA in Spartanburg that the siblings lost their parents three days apart in October.
It was their parents’ property that Smith had been “bush hogging,” or from which he was cutting heavy brush, when he was killed.
“We were just devastated. Devastated and heartbroken because he is such a precious man,” Wilbanks said of her brother. “Never would harm anyone. Everyone loved him.”
Smith’s alleged killers, who are not allowed to be detained pretrial due to their ages, have been placed in their parents’ custody, Crenshaw said.
Smith’s wife, Marilynn Smith, called 911 around 9 p.m. June 23 after she went looking for her husband, whom she could not reach by phone. The property where he was working is located on Coffee Road near Westminster.
“Deputies responded to the scene and located Mr. Smith slumped over the steering wheel, unresponsive, on a tractor that was still running but had gone down an embankment, striking a tree,” a news release stated. “Based upon evidence obtained during the investigation, and from the autopsy, it was determined that Mr. Smith had sustained a single gunshot wound to the back.”
The Associated Press reported that Smith had been shot four to six hours before his wife discovered his body.
Crenshaw and his investigators did not say what led them to the boys, who allegedly used a .22-caliber rifle in the crime. The motive for the shooting — and where they obtained the gun — is also being kept under wraps.
The sheriff said the evidence indicates the boys each “discharged (the) firearm in a reckless manner” in Smith’s direction. It was unclear which bullet struck Smith, but Crenshaw said in a statement that “based upon South Carolina law, the hand of one is the hand of all.”
Crenshaw elaborated for WSPA, saying that investigators do not believe the boys meant to kill anyone.
“We don’t think there was any malice,” the sheriff told the news station. “We don’t think it was a premeditated, that their intent was to actually kill Mr. Smith, but when you fire a firearm in the direction of another person, in a reckless manner, that is considered involuntary manslaughter.”
Haskell Long, who lives near the property where Smith died, said it was a shock to learn that Smith had been gunned down on his parents’ land.
“It’s just something you don’t hear of, and knowing Danny, he don’t have any enemies,” Long told WSPA. “We feel terrible that something like this happened, and the loss of him. He was just such a great person.”
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Wilbanks said she and Smith, her only brother, were close growing up. According to family obituaries, the pair were the only two children of Delree Hershel Smith and Betty Jean Smith.
Betty Smith, a homemaker, died Oct. 6 at the age of 83, her obituary stated. Delree Smith, a retired cotton mill worker and farmer, died Oct. 9. He was 82.
Danny Smith was retired from U.S. Engine Valve and worked as a volunteer fireman with the Cleveland Fire Department, according to his obituary.
“One of his great passions was riding his Harley,” the obituary stated.
Smith is survived by his wife, his two daughters and his five grandchildren.
