Kidnapping charge added against SC teen accused of suffocating 4-year-old sister

A Greenville County teen charged with murdering his 4-year-old half sister has also been charged with kidnapping her.

The body of Joanna Lockaby was found by deputies in a plastic container in the woods behind her Pelzer, South Carolina, home. She had been reported missing less than an hour before.

William Micah Hester, 17, known as Micah, was charged with murder Tuesday.

During a bond hearing, Hester’s father, William, implored the judge to grant his son bond, saying, “He’s a good boy.”

The father said, “Micah would not do anything like this on purpose. I know my boy. He loves his sister.”

He also said, “We’ve lost little Joanna. I don’t want to lose my son, too.”

The judge denied bond. Hester will be held at the Department of Juvenile Justice pending trial.

Autopsy results from the Greenville County Coroner’s Office have not been released.

The Sheriff’s Office has said the girl suffocated.

Lt. Ryan Flood of the Sheriff’s Office said Thursday they are still investigating whether Joanna Lockaby was alive when she was put into the bin and died because she could not get out or was killed before being put in the bin.

The girl’s older brother, Joe Lockaby, died in May 2018 after being left in a car by his grandmother. He was 18-months old, and Joanna was a baby.

Janik Nix was originally charged with homicide by child abuse, but pleaded guilty in 2019 to assault and battery, court records show. She was sentenced to 10 years, which was suspended with completion of three years of probation.

Family members said at the time she left the boy in the car to run inside her home before they went to McDonald’s, but a medical condition caused her to become unconscious.

This story was originally published July 22, 2022 at 10:10 AM.