AIKEN COUNTY, S.C. (WJBF) — A family is remembering a man whose life was cut short last year. “Chandler’s favorite place was the lake – water. I mean, that was, he loved the fish,” Tabitha Smith told NewsChannel 6’s Aiken Bureau Chief Shawn Cabbagestalk about her son. “That was one thing that me and him loved to do together,” she added.
Those fishing trips are now cut short following the death of Chandler Smith. The son of two parents and brother to one sister. “He was the greatest, big brother ever. He as gonna make sure his sister was good,” she recalled.
Aiken County Investigators believe he was kidnapped, then shot, and killed after being released from the Aiken County Detention Center. “There’s no words you can put on that. There’s no words. There’s nothing. I’ve lost a part of myself,” she shared.
So far, three people have been charged in the case.
Investigators have warrants for three others for murder, but those suspects are believed to have fled to Mexico.
Investigators say they aren’t allowed to talk about ongoing criminal investigations until they are complete.
Smith says that she wants justice to be served and Chandler’s life to be remembered. “I’m very angry, very, very angry.,” she said. “It just doesn’t make no sense to me, you know, from my standpoint of view it, you know, they all just need to be in jail and locked up and throw away the key. Some of them have said a little bit and they might have not had actually done anything to harm him, but they were, but they were there. They didn’t stop the situation. That’s something that I have to pray about,” she added.
Meanwhile, his remains have not been located yet.
Shawn asked, “You just want closure?” “Yes. That’s all I want is closure,” Smith said. “I mean he deserves that much. He deserves that much. He deserves much more, but yeah.,” she added.
