Arrest made in SC cold case of mom shot & killed through wall of home 24 years ago

The temperature had cooled after a summer shower when some friends gathered at a mobile home in Belton, an Anderson County city of about 4,000 in 2001.

Word got around about the party and the small gathering grew into what witnesses said could have been 50 to 100 people.

By the end of the night, 29-year-old Jennifer Lawson was dead, shot in the head by a bullet that first went through the shoulder of a man and then through the wall of the home.

The case stymied detectives, largely because no one knew the three men who showed up uninvited, one of whom fired the deadly shot from a dark-colored sedan before they sped away.

On Monday, Anderson County cold case detectives arrested 55-year-old Andretti Mendez Goss and charged him with Lawson’s murder.

Detectives said the three men got into a verbal dispute with people at the party before the shooting occurred.

“The 29-year-old mother was truly an innocent bystander and victim who was at the wrong place at the wrong time,” Anderson County detectives have said repeatedly through the years.

The house where the shooting took place was known as a comfortable place for young Belton residents to gather. Deputies had never had calls to the house before, cold case detective Corey Smith said during a press conference Monday.

The shooting haunted Lawson’s family as well as the other victim and the entire community of Belton, he said.

Lawson was married and had a son at the time of her death. Her obituary says she worked at Ingles.

“Our Cold Case Unit is committed to giving a voice to victims who can no longer speak for themselves and to seeking justice, no matter how much time has passed,” Sheriff Chad McBride said.

The Cold Case Unit has been investigating the case since last summer and identified additional witnesses, including some from out of state.

Besides murder, Goss is charged with assault and battery with intent to kill, possessing a weapon during a violent crime and discharging a firearm into a dwelling. He was denied bond and is in the Anderson County Detention Center.

During his first appearance Monday, Goss said he was innocent and did not own a gun then or now.

The Sheriff’s Office said the investigation is continuing, and more arrests are possible.