SLED releases statement, provides new details on Stephen Smith murder investigation

The South Carolina Law Enforcement Division released a statement Wednesday afternoon regarding its investigation into the death of Stephen Smith.

Smith was found dead on rural Sandy Run Road in the early morning hours of July 8, 2015, in a case that was controversially ruled a hit-and-run after a confused − and the family says shoddy − initial investigation.

Sandy Smith, the mother of Stephen Smith, whose unsolved death has haunted her for eight years, had a short but excited message when she learned that state police are now moving forward with his case as an official murder investigation.

"I've been waiting on this news for almost 8 years!" Smith emailed to The Hampton County Guardian Tuesday night. "I'm in shock, I'm elated, I'm waiting for the next chapter!"

The case went cold until a 2019 boat crash involving the controversial Murdaugh family of Hampton County again brought it into the public spotlight. Even more questions were raised about his death two years later. SLED reopened Smith’s case in June 2021 "based upon information gathered during the course of the double murder investigation of Paul and Maggie Murdaugh," stated a SLED spokesperson at the time.

Pain, lessons linger:Where does Hampton County, SC go after Alex Murdaugh verdict?