GASTON, SC — The bullet-riddled body of a 60-year-old Gaston man was found inside his home early Saturday morning after a house fire.

The Lexington County Sheriff’s Department is searching for the killer or killers of Jimmy Lee Helms, whose body was discovered at 6:44 a.m. in his home on the 600 block of Blackville Road. Helms had been shot multiple times in his upper torso, Lexington County Coroner’s Office reported.

The Lexington County Fire Service’s firefighters discovered Helms’s body on a couch inside the home. He was badly burned, and the fire caused extensive damage to the house, according to a report from the Lexington County Sheriff’s Department. The cause of the fire remains under investigation.

Investigators believe Helms was shot between midnight and 6 a.m. Saturday, the sheriff’s department said. It appears Helms was dead before the fire started, the sheriff’s report said.

Anyone with information about the shooting or the fire should call the Lexington County Sheriff’s Department at (803) 785-8230 or S.C. Crimestoppers at 1-888-274-6373.

Reach Phillips at (803) 771-8307.