Masked men killed convenience store clerk in shootout. Her son wants to find ‘scumbags’
A woman working as a clerk at a South Carolina convenience store was killed in a shootout with two masked men, WHNS reported.
Her son asked others to “help bring the two scumbags in that shot my mama ... over some change in a cash register,” according to WYFF.
Dalton Kirby told reporters his mother, Stacey Branham, worked at the Easley gas station more than three years before the Dec. 14 shooting, per WHNS. The Easley Police Department identified the store as B Pam’s Food Mart in a Facebook post.
The 49-year-old Piedmont woman was killed by a “single gunshot wound” and was pronounced dead at the scene, Pickens County Coroner Kandy C. Kelley said in a news release.
Branham was involved in a shootout with the masked suspects, according to Easley Police Chief Tim Tollison who said there is “physical evidence” she “fired a gun at the two suspects,” the Greenville News reported.
Police posted video surveillance of the shootout on Facebook, which shows one of the men wearing an orange ski mask, gray long-sleeve shirt, and black vest, and the other man was wearing a black-hooded sweatshirt with a white cloth mask.
“It does not appear from the video anything was taken,” Tollison said, per the Greenville News.
Police said the masked suspects fired “at least three-to-four rounds,” and Branham was shot in the chest, according to WYFF.
“She is gonna be truly missed, missed terribly,” said Nancy Holcombe, a regular customer at the convenience store, WSPA reported following a vigil in Branham’s memory.
Branham was a grandmother, and Kirby said another grandchild is expected, per WYFF.
“She should be able to be there today, to see her granddaughter, to be able to hold her and watch her grow up,” Kirby said, according to the TV station. “There is no reason for this.”
The deadly shooting is being investigated by Easley police, and anyone with information is asked to call 864-859-4025.
This story was originally published December 16, 2018 at 8:20 PM.
