SC tipster led to capture of Jeriod Price in New York, state attorney general says
A tip from South Carolina led law enforcement to the New York City apartment where convicted murderer Jeriod Price was hiding out after 77 days on the run.
“Jeriod Price is no longer a wanted man,” said South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson at a press conference Wednesday, just hours after he received the news that Price had been apprehended.
Wilson confirmed that a South Carolina tipster provided crucial information to South Carolina law enforcement that allowed the fugitive task force, along with the FBI and New York Police Department, to locate Price at an apartment in the Bronx.
“Once they got eyes on him they were able to intercept and apprehend him without incident,” Wilson said, describing the arrest as “non-use of force.”
The attorney general thanked multiple law enforcement agencies, including the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division, the Richland County Sheriff’s Office, the FBI, NYPD and the US Marshals, who participated in the search for Price.
“(From) the day the court vacated that order that released him from prison prematurely, to the day that he started running, until today, the day that he was apprehended, I want to underscore the partnerships that we had across the state of SC, from here all the way to New York,” Wilson said.
The $30,000 reward that was offered by the FBI for Price’s capture could be dispersed to the the unnamed individual who provided the tip, said 1st Circuit Solicitor David Pascoe, who originally prosecuted Price in 2003 as an assistant solicitor in Columbia.
Price’s peaceful arrest was the resolution to what Wilson described as an “unfortunate” series of events that saw the convicted murderer released 16 years before the end of his sentence.
Price, who was convicted for the murder of Carl Smalls, was sprung from prison in mid-March following a closed-door deal between his attorney, state representative Todd Rutherford, D-Richland, and 5th Circuit Solicitor Byron Gipson. The deal was signed off by Circuit Court Judge Casey Manning, who has since retired.
In April, the South Carolina Supreme Court overturned the order releasing Price and ordered that he be returned to prison. Price then went on the run, Wilson said.
“The law was not followed by the people involved in the process,” Wilson said. “whether it was negligence, oversight or a disregard, I don’t know, I’m not going to opine on that, but what I will say is, had the law been followed to the letter, Mr. Price would have had an open court hearing where would have been able to articulate why he should not been released and I truly don’t believe he would have been released.”
Rutherford expressed concern for Price now that he is back in custody, saying his life has been endangered “by people seeking political gain.”
“It is good to know Jeroid Price is safe from those outside who seek to do him harm. Now he has to worry about those in government who continue to heap harm on him,” Rutherford said in a news release.
Price is awaiting extradition from New York and he will initially be incarcerated in Kirkland Correctional Institution when he is brought back to South Carolina, Wilson said.
While he declined provide any specifics, the attorney general said that his office is exploring whether other charges could be brought against Price.
This story was originally published July 12, 2023 at 5:04 PM.