Sheriff: Murder-suicide incident discovered after child was not picked up from school

Richland County Sheriff’s Department officials said two people are dead after an apparent murder-suicide incident that was discovered when the couple’s child was not picked up from school Wednesday.

Sheriff Leon Lott said deputies responded to a residence in the 100 block of Amsterdam Drive, off Zimalcrest Drive, to perform a welfare check at 4:15 p.m. after a 6-year-old child was not picked up from school.

Lott said the school resource officer knocked on the door attempting to make contact with the parent but received no response; the deputy could hear that the television was on inside of the apartment. A maintenance worker for the complex was called to open the apartment’s door, Lott said, which is when deputies located the victim and suspect both lying on the floor with gunshot wounds to the upper body.

Richland County Coroner Gary Watts said the victim was identified as 34-year-old Stephanie C. Wallace, who died after suffering a gunshot wound to the head.

Watts said the suspect was Wallace’s estranged husband, who was identified as 32-year-old Keith Wallace, who died as a result of a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head.

Lott said investigators are continuing to examine evidence to determine the exact sequence of events surrounding the shooting.

This story was originally published February 18, 2016 at 1:15 PM with the headline "Sheriff: Murder-suicide incident discovered after child was not picked up from school."