Sheriff: Father of 3 Holly Hill shooting victims arrested on unrelated charges
The father of three children shot early Wednesday morning in Holly Hill was arrested Thursday on drug charges unrelated to the killings.
Christopher Wright, 36, of 7050 Old State Road, Holly Hill, was charged on two outstanding warrants for trafficking methamphetamine, said Orangeburg County Sheriff Leroy Ravenell. Wright was taken into custody on the drug charges as he was being interviewed about the fatal attack that killed two of his children and critically wounded a third.
Wright’s children, Shamekia Sanders, 17, and Alexia Perry, 14, died of gunshot wounds in the attack. The third, an 8-year-old boy, “has been taken to a secure location where he remains in critical condition after suffering a gunshot wound,” Ravenell said.
Also arrested was Robert Bailey, 35, AKA “Pockets,” of Eutawville, who was charged with manufacturing marijuana, possession of cocaine, unlawful carrying of a pistol and an outstanding traffic violation of driving under suspension by the S.C. Highway Patrol. He was taken into custody Wednesday night when investigators following leads in the shooting visited his home and allegedly found “a quantity of illegal drug.”
Ravanell said the charges are unrelated to the “horrific incident” that claimed the lives of two adults and two children.
While he did not say he had a suspect or suspects, Ravenell said officials had some evidence to indicate the shootings discovered Wednesday morning were an isolated incident.
The arrests of Wright and Bailey “are the indirect result of our extensive and ongoing investigation into this horrific incident,” Ravenell said. “As I stated on Wednesday, we are not going to stop until we have any and everyone involved in custody to face this heinous crime.”
“As soon as we develop a suspect, we’ll get a description out,” sheriff’s department spokesman Richard Walker said Thursday.
Coroner Samuetta Marshall said the other two victims found at the home were Jerome Butler, 50, whose body was found in the home’s yard, and Krystal Hutto, 28.
Law enforcement officials did not say how the victims were related.
The Orangeburg Times and Democrat reported Thursday that Hutto’s life has been hit by tragedy repeatedly with three car accidents that separately claimed the lives of her brother, mother and father.
The paper reported that two years ago, Krystal’s father Kenneth Hutto, 44, was killed in a single-vehicle accident in Holly Hill. Her mother, Mary Jennings Hutto, 41, was killed in a car accident in 2010 in Holly Hill. And the family lost 7-year-old Christopher Hutto when a vehicle struck him in 1993 not far from their home.
The paper also reported that Holly Hill police said Krystal Hutto had rammed her vehicle into a police cruiser, injuring the officer, in May 2013.
She pleaded guilty for failure to stop for a blue light involving great bodily harm and was sentenced to six years, suspended to time served, one year of house arrest, and three years of probation. She was also ordered to complete a drug-rehabilitation program, the report said.
The paper also reported that Sanders had attended Lake Marion High School in Santee. The paper reported her aunt, Chantal Martin, described Sanders as a cheerleader who was looking forward to her senior year in school and graduation.
Superintendent Dr. Jesulon Gibbs-Brown of the Orangeburg Consolidated School District 3 schools said the deaths of young people will affect many in the school district and that the district would try to make support available to family and friends, even though the schools are in summer session.
“We can immediately begin to support the family and extend our condolences and support them in any way we can,” Gibbs-Brown said.
The Associated Press contributed.
This story was originally published July 16, 2015 at 3:17 PM with the headline "Sheriff: Father of 3 Holly Hill shooting victims arrested on unrelated charges."