News 12, July 31, 2010

EDGEFIELD COUNTY, SC -- A man is dead after being shot in the chest late Friday night at a Hayes Drive home, according to Cpl. Robbie Harter. The man is identified as 27-year-old Theodore Campbell of Johnston, South Carolina. Investigators tell News 12 Campbell did not live at the Hayes Drive home.

A group of people, including Campbell, entered the back door of the home and gunshots were fired. The residents of the home have been questioned. Chief Deputy Coroner David Burnett confirms Campbell was shot in the chest and arm. Investigator Harter says it appears Campbell fled from #21Hayes Drive and collapsed in front of an unoccupied home next door.

Jessie Mathis says she woke up to the sound of gunshots late Friday night. "When I first heard it, it sounded like somebody started banging." She lives right across the street from where investigators found Theodore Campbell's body. "I couldnt go to sleep after all this was goin on."

Investigators say they believe the incident is drug-related. Dispatch says the call came in a little before midnight. Investigators are referring to last night as a shooting incident, not a murder, since the motive is unknown at this time.

Clavin Curry says he was shocked to wake up and see officers searching by his house on Hayes Drive for hours during the night. "I said, what's going on man?! And [a neighbor] said, somebody got killed right there." Curry adds, "They were checking everywhere, running up and down the road, all behind the trailer with flashlights, everything. I didn't know what was happening."

Right next door, Ernest is just thankful he wasn't home when the shooting started. "That's kinda dangerous there to me. It could have been me... I could have walked out the door and gotten shot."

Neighbors say there is often traffic in out of the area. Curry says, "A lot of traffic been here the last three weeks or more." He adds they've never had any major problems on Hayes.

Mathis tells News 12 she is now worried about her own safety. "It's a nice neighborhood, don't really bother anybody. I really have never seen nothing like this before."

Investigators say they have been questioning witnesses and following leads all day today. Harter says they have a lot of evidence to process.

This is the second homicide in Edgefield County this year. The first was three weeks ago; Larry Sanders Jr. was shot and killed during a home invasion on Eagle Road.