HAMPTON COUNTY, S.C. — After nearly eight years, the death of a young South Carolina man is being investigated as a homicide.
WCNC Charlotte's content partner WLTX reports the State Law Enforcement Division (SLED) informed the attorneys for the mother of Stephen Smith of the update.
Stephen Smith was 19 when he was found dead on a Hampton County road in 2015. The coroner ruled his death as the result of a hit and run.
SLED reopened the case back in 2021 as they were gathering evidence in connection to the murders of Paul and Maggie Murdaugh.
No one has been named as a suspect or person of interest in connection to Stephen Smith's death.
Earlier this month, his mother Sandy Smith started a GoFundMe for a second autopsy and exhumation of his body. It has raised more than $80,000.
“We have a chance to right eight years of wrongs, and we intend to do just that,” Bland Richter co-founder Eric Bland said in a statement.
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