GEORGETOWN COUNTY, S.C. — A South Carolina college student and her stepfather were shot and killed on the front lawn Monday in a road rage-related attack after a minor fender bender in the driveway.
Laura Ashley Anderson, 21, and Charles Nicholas Wall, 45, were killed outside a home in Georgetown, S.C., which was recently purchased by Anderson, where she expected to begin her new adult life, FOX reported.
Ty Sheem Walters III, 23, reportedly rear-ended Wall as he turned into the driveway of the home near the intersection of Indian Hut Road and Highmarket Street, just off of U.S. 521, around 5 p.m., according to the Georgetown County Sheriff’s Office. Next, he then allegedly got out of the vehicle and shot Wall, Anderson, and another person, WPDE reported.
“I’m having to bury one of my children and my husband. It’s such a freak thing. I don’t know why this would happen. I just don’t understand,” Kimberly Wall, Anderson’s mother and Wall’s wife, told WMBF. “It’s just devastating. I don’t know how we’re going to go forward.”
Anderson was in the front yard waiting for Wall to arrive to drop off a spare set of keys. After just moving in, she was selling an old set of bunk beds online and had realized she was locked out when she came to meet the potential buyer outside her house, Lynn Lambert, a close friend of the family, told WPDE.
“I don’t understand how a simple fender bender they called it could turn into double murder and an attempted murder,” Lambert said. “Why? I honestly didn’t think it was real. Who does this?”
Ty Sheem Ha Sheem Walters III, 23, was charged with two counts of murder and one count of attempted murder in connection to the shooting that killed Anderson and Wall. (Georgetown County Sheriffs Office)
The crime scene is a location that Kimberly Wall, a mourning mother, and widow, travels daily.
“She will, she’ll have to pass it every single day,” Lambert said.
Kimberly Wall told a judge Wednesday the shooting happened just three miles from where she lives and that Walters took away two of her “best friends.” Consequently, the judge denied bail for Walters, who is charged with two counts of murder, one count of attempted murder and the illegal possession of a firearm.
Every morning, Nick Wall would wait on me to wake up so he could put his arm around me or grab my hand. We’d chat a bit…
Posted by Kimberly J Wall on Thursday, August 27, 2020
The third and only surviving victim was identified as Paul McConnell, the Daily Mail reported. His relationship to Anderson and Wall was not immediately known.
Anderson “wanted to be a teacher like her momma. She was getting ready to start school. She was getting everything in order. Everything was starting to fall in place for her,” Lambert said. “She won’t get to get married, she won’t get to have children.”
Responding officers arrived at the scene to find one victim had already been taken to the hospital, a second was being treated by first responders, and a third was walking around dazed and confused with a gunshot wound to his left wrist, WMBF reported, citing the incident report. Wall was shot at least twice in the head and torso. Anderson was shot at least once in the head.
Police established a perimeter before setting out to look for Walters, who fled on foot down Kent Road. Walters was spotted walking on Georgetown Highway toward Andrews, and took off running through the woods when approached by officers. After a brief foot pursuit by officers and a police K-9 unit, Walters was taken into custody around 6:30 p.m., Georgetown Times’ Post and Courier reported.
Scott Scogin, a longtime friend of Wall, said his friend’s death is “hard to imagine.” He said he has kids around Anderson’s age, and he’s holding them a little tighter these days.
“I’ve held my kids for the last two days and told them tomorrow’s not promised,” Scogin said.
Author information
Jim McNeff is the managing editor of Law Officer and founder of Badge 145, a ministry geared toward helping police officers and their families.
Jim worked in military and civilian law enforcement for thirty-one years. While in the USAF he flew as a crewmember aboard the National Emergency Airborne Command Post—a presidential support detail. Following his military service, he served for twenty-eight years with the Fountain Valley Police Department in Orange County, California where he retired as a lieutenant. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in criminal justice from Southwest University and graduated from the prestigious Sherman Block Supervisory Leadership Institute as well as the IACP course, Leadership in Police Organizations.
In addition to being a Medal of Valor recipient, Jim has authored three books: The Spirit behind Badge 145, Justice Revealed, and Jurisdiction.