Suspect arrested in 2014 double homicide

One man was charged and jailed this week in the Dec. 26, 2014 killing of two men in Elgin, Richland County deputies said Thursday.

Ryan Mauzon Padgett, 33, was charged Tuesday with two counts of murder and one count of possession of a firearm by a person convicted of a violent felony, according to the sheriff’s department.

The arrest comes after deputies responded to a home on Archer Avenue just after 9 p.m. the day after Christmas. They found the bodies of Tyrone Richardson and Mark Cox with multiple gunshot wounds to their upper bodies. They died at the scene.

Acquaintances of the victims discovered the bodies after arriving at the home to drop off food, according to the police report.

Padgett knew both of the victims and shot them over a drug deal, according to Sgt. Brittany Scott. The killing involved heroin, Scott said.

Officials would not comment as to what evidence lead to Padgett’s arrest, saying only that an anonymous caller from the community helped. They also declined to explain why it took so long to make an arrest.

This story was originally published January 7, 2016 at 3:28 PM with the headline "Suspect arrested in 2014 double homicide."