Death of woman found under trash followed family argument, teen charged

A 17-year-old Columbia man has been charged with murder following the beating death of his father’s girlfriend, the Richland County Sheriff’s Department said in a news release.

Kendall A. Smith allegedly beat Leona Monique Pack to death Sept. 13, following an evening-long argument involving Pack, Smith’s father and Smith’s brother, sheriff’s department spokesman Curtis Wilson said.

Pack’s body was discovered by an employee cleaning up the trash area of a tire store at 6620 Two Notch Road a week later, on the morning of Sept. 20.

The argument, fueled by alcohol, was sparked by an allegedly inappropriate advance by Pack toward Smith’s brother which was observed by the father, her boyfriend, Wilson said.

When Kendall Smith returned home later that night and was told about what happened, he allegedly followed Pack outside the house and hit her multiple times in the upper body with a metal object, Wilson said. Pack’s body was moved and left “a short distance away in the trash,” the news release stated.

Smith was being held at the Alvin S. Glenn Detention Center Wednesday night.