news in brief

Irmo man dies in collision

Keven E. Brannon, 47, of Irmo died May 22 in a motor vehicle collision in the 3800 block of Charleston Highway.

According to Lexington County Coroner Margaret Fisher, Brannon was driving a motorcycle, traveling eastbound, when he collided with a southbound vehicle pulling a boat trailer as it crossed the roadway to continue on Old Wire Road.

Brannon was not wearing a helmet and was pronounced dead at the scene due to his injuries.

The driver of the vehicle was not injured.

The collision remains under investigation by the South Carolina Highway Patrol.

Father convicted of killing his son

Heirberone Heava Foster, 58, will serve 30 years for killing his son.

A Lexington County jury late Thursday, May 23, convicted him of murder and possession of a weapon during a violent crime.

On May 10, 2016, his son Will, 24, was shot and killed in his front yard in the Gaston area after an argument with his father over a barbecue grill.

Witnesses testified that Foster went inside the home and returned with a pump action shotgun, aimed and shot his son in the chest.

Lexington County Sheriff’s deputies quickly caught him.

Foster has prior convictions for criminal domestic violence of a high and aggravated nature, assault and battery and multiple other convictions.

“This was a senseless killing that has torn a family apart,” prosecutor Rhonda Patterson said.

Deputies arrest man, woman on drug charges

Lexington County deputies arrested a man and woman on drug charges after encountering the couple during a routine patrol at a Midlands motel.

John Randal Johnston Jr., 48, faces multiple drug charges after deputies said they found heroin, cocaine, crack cocaine and meth in his car. Johnston is also charged with possessing a weapon during a violent crime.

Debra Lynn Gilman, 47, is charged with possession of less than 1 gram of meth, according to warrants.

“Deputies made contact with these individuals at the Knights Inn on Bush River Road Wednesday afternoon,” Lexington County Sheriff Jay Koon said. “As they talked, Gil-man admitted to deputies she was wanted on an active bench warrant out of Calhoun County.”

Koon said Johnston, a Lexington resident, admitted to deputies he had drugs and a weapon in his car. Deputies searched the car after getting a search warrant.

Johnston and Gilman, a Massachusetts native, were arrested without incident at the motel and transported to the Lexington County Detention Center.

Firefighter hurt in Gaston fi

A Lexington County home fire Saturday displaced 4 people and sent a firefighter to the hospital.

Lexington County firefighters ar rived at 2 p.m. at the home in the 400 block of Boy Scout Road in Gaston to find flames and smoke coming from the attic.

The firefighter was treated at the hospital for a heat-related illness and released.

11 units, 24 firefighters and Lex ington County EMS responded.

The American Red Cross has been notified for assistance.

Teen hit, killed by a car

An autopsy has revealed that a teenager hit and killed in Lexington County last week was under the influence of alcohol.

Damarj Torrel Morris, 18, died from blunt force injuries after being struck by a car on the 400 block of Broad Street about 10 pm May 18, according to the Lexington County Coroner’s Office.

High-tech fingerprinting

Batesburg-Leesville Police Department recently received a state of-the-art fingerprint scanner, man ufactured by iTouch Biometrics.

This fingerprint scanner was obtained thanks to a grant through State Law Enforcement Division.

This scanner will streamline the process of booking prisoners and time spent processing them. This also alleviates the need to ink fingerprints.

The scanner sends fingerprints to SLED and the FBI instantly. This saves Batesburg-Leesville, as well as SLED and the FBI, time and money.

Chief Oswald wanted to extend a “big thank you to SLED as this scanner will greatly improve the functionality of the department.”

Home fire on Cedar Vale Drive

A Lexington man escaped unharmed from a house fire Sunday.

Lexington County Fire Service, county EMS and Irmo Fire District units responded to the 2-story resi dential structure fire in the 100 block of Cedar Vale Drive.

It is the same block where 8-year-old Mason Hanahan died from a gunshot wound during a botched home invasion at 112 Cedar Vale on May 14.

An animal inside the home was injured in the blaze.

An investigation into the cause of the fire is underway. Damage estimates have not yet been released.

Fire destroys Lexington home

Firefighters responded to a house fire on Wallace Circle about 4:30 am Tuesday. They put out the fire and no one was injured but the home was a total loss.

Officials said no one was home and it does not look like a suspicious fire.

The American Red Cross has been called in to assist residents affected.

Houses on both sides of the fire suffered minor damage.

Fire officials have begun an investigation to determine what caused the fire.

Would-be golf thieves in act

Lexington County deputies arrested 3 men late Friday night in connection with an attempted golf cart theft.

Rodney Valentine Bush, Terry Lee Hasker and Robert Lebron Switzer were caught near a truck, trailer and golf cart inside a fenced area on Augusta Road, according to an incident report.

The suspects are charged with burglary, grand larceny, criminal conspiracy and possession of burglary tools, according to Lexington County Sheriff Jay Koon.

Hasker and Switzer are being held in the Lexington County Detention Center. Bush has been released after posting bail.

Child pornographer charged

Robert Edward Yancey, 48, of West Columbia, faces 10 charges of sexual exploitation of a minor.

He faces up to 10 years in prison on each count.

Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force investigators with Attorney General Alan Wilson’s Office made the arrest with the Lexington County Sheriff’s Office.