Hartsville murder suspect has convictions for burglaries, grand larceny

The man wanted in connection with the death of a Hartsville business owner has a rap sheet that includes convictions for a long list of home burglaries as well as grand larceny counts.

Police have named 39-year-old Eddie Anthony Huggins a suspect in the Monday-night slaying of Keith Hoyle Hancock.

Hartsville Police Chief Tim Kemp said Huggins has an extensive criminal record that includes armed robberies in Virginia.

“He’s what I would call a career criminal,” Kemp said. “He’s been in and out of jail for most of his adult life.”

Huggins is now wanted for murder and robbery. He is described as a black man standing 5 feet 8 inches tall and weighing 175 pounds.

His South Carolina criminal record, obtained Thursday by WBTW News13, shows that in 1985 he was convicted of 13 counts of housebreaking, or burglary, as well as five grand larceny counts.

Huggins was sentenced to a total of eight years in prison after Hartsville police arrested him in connection with the crimes.

He received four-year terms for most of the burglaries, although he was given an eight-year sentence for one break-in. All sentences ran concurrently.

He also was sentenced to concurrent four-year prison terms for each grand larceny count. Those sentences, however, ran consecutively to the four years for his first burglary count.

Hartsville police also arrested Huggins in November 1987, when he was charged with grand larceny and second-degree burglary. No court disposition was available on those charges.

The following January, police arrested Huggins for second-degree burglary and malicious injury to real property. He was acquitted on both counts.

It’s unclear why Huggins would have been out of prison when he was charged with the crimes two years after his sentencing.

In 1991, he paid $374 in fines after being convicted of disorderly conduct and simple possession of marijuana. That was the most recent arrest on his South Carolina record.

Hancock, 57, was killed after what appeared to be a robbery attempt at his business, Kemp said. The victim apparently had been beaten with an ax handle.
Darlington County Coroner Todd Hardee estimated that Hancock died at 7:30 p.m.

A few people who knew Hancock saw lights on about 8:30 p.m. Monday at Gardner’s Fertilizer & Farm Supplies, located at 317 Railroad Ave. in downtown Hartsville, Kemp said in a previous interview. Finding the scenario unusual, they went inside, found Hancock lying on the floor and called 911.

Hancock’s store has been robbed several times in the past, most recently in November 2007, Kemp said earlier this week. It also was the target of several break-ins, which is why a surveillance system had been installed. The business is near the S.C. Governor’s School for Science and Mathematics, Coker College and Hartsville City Hall.

The footage from the surveillance system can be viewed online at http://www.hartsvillesc.com/Press.avi.

“We’ve got some good, strong information we’re working on, and we hope to be able to do something soon,” Kemp said Thursday.

Hancock’s death is Hartsville’s first homicide this year and the town’s fifth in five years, the chief said earlier this week.

Anyone with information about this case is asked to call the police department at (843) 383-3013 or CrimeStoppers of the Pee Dee at (843) 667-TIPS (8477) or (866) 369-TIPS (8477). Callers need not reveal their identities.