Three charged in slaying of Florence woman

FLORENCE — Two Florence men and a teen have been arrested in connection with the death of a 69-year-old Florence woman whose body was found early Wednesday morning on the northeast side of Florence.

Willie Mae Hayes had been reported missing by her family Monday. An autopsy showed she died of multiple stab wounds to her upper body, Florence County Coroner M.G. “Bubba” Matthews said.

David Gerrard Johnson, 22, of 419 W. Sumter St., and Rashawn Jerome Bailey, 19, of 114 Liberty St., are each charged with first-degree murder, first-degree burglary, armed robbery and possession of a weapon during the commission of a violent crime, Chief Anson Shells said during a press conference Wednesday morning.

A 14-year-old boy also faces those charges in connection with the case and has been taken to the state Department of Juvenile Justice in Columbia, Florence Police Maj. Carlos Raines said.

Both men are convicted felons whose criminal records include burglary charges, according to State Law Enforcement Division arrest reports.

Bailey had been released from the Florence County Detention Center in Effingham on Aug. 21 on a $20,000 surety bond for second-degree violent burglary and assault and battery of a high and aggravated nature.

Investigators, with the help of witnesses, were able to identify people thought to know the circumstances surrounding Hayes’ disappearance, according to a press release from Shells.

SLED helicopter agents attempted to conduct an an aerial search of the property near Hayes’ home and the perimeter of Florence on Tuesday afternoon but were thwarted by the weather. SLED, the Florence County Sheriff’s Office and the U.S. Marshals Service all assisted in the investigation.

Family members last spoke with Hayes about 7:30 p.m. Sunday. Her family suspected something was wrong when they couldn’t reach her and she didn’t show up to work Monday at a day-care center where she is employed, Raines said.

Police began to investigate Monday afternoon soon after she was reported missing, Raines said. When officers arrived at her home in the 200 block of West Liberty Street, it looked like someone had forced his or her way inside.

Several items, in addition to Hayes’ car, were stolen from her home, Raines said.

Officers later found Hayes’ vehicle backed into a parking space at an apartment complex on Roughfork Street, which is about a block from her home. Raines said it appears people other than Hayes had been in the car recently.

Hayes’ body was found about 2 a.m. Wednesday morning in a ditch on Malloy Street, a dirt road that meets with Wilson Road. Her body had been wrapped in a bedspread from her home and concealed by weeds, investigators said.

“I just can’t understand how someone could be so cruel, and so uncaring for another human being, especially a senior citizen,” Hayes’ brother, Marion Dolford, said. “I started to lose hope, but I have a deep faith in Christ and so I hoped for the best, but deep inside was expecting the worst, and unfortunately it turned out that it was the worst news that I could have possibly ever gotten.

“There was a sinking feeling inside, that told me this was the inevitable news,” he said. “It was crushing. It was one of those feelings that no one would every want to experience. It was something that I shall remember for the rest of my life. It actually changed my life and so it goes deep, extremely deep.”

“We extend our deepest sympathy and our prayers to the family of Ms. Hayes,” Shells said in his release. “We know that nothing can reverse what has happened, but we hope that these and future arrests bring some closure for the family.”

Ernest Dolford, another of Hayes’ brothers, said the discovery of his sister’s body and the arrest of two suspects brings the family some relief.

“As the time went by, I began to lose hope already anyhow, but since she had been found, there was a relief to know that at least we had her back ... even in that state, but at least we had her back,” he said. “We’ll just stay close together, we’ll pray, spend all the time we can with each other, especially with the younger ones and encourage them to hang tough and do their best to live a life like their mother, their aunt, our sister.

“She was loved by her family, loved by her community and by her church, where she was very faithful.”

Willie Jones, who’d been Hayes’ neighbor since the 1960s, agreed.

“She was a kind person. She was an easygoing person,” Jones said. “(She) loved to go to church. She been in three or four, five things at church.”

Jones also described Hayes as a good neighbor and can’t believe she was the victim of such a violent crime.

“We all around here is good neighbors. We love one another, do things for one another,” she said. “That somebody could be so mean and selfish to come and just take her from her home ... You know what I mean? That’s bad. I couldn’t understand it.”

— WBTW News 13’s Mackenzie Taylor contributed to this report.