Fatal beating may have been gang-related
Investigators are trying to determine if Thursday’s beating death of a Timmonsville man was gang-related, Timmonsville Police Detective David Nichols said.
Rush Vance Bass, 47, of 694 Lamar Highway, was pronounced dead just before 10:30 p.m. at a local hospital of injuries suffered during the attack.
Investigators originally thought Bass died as a result of his being hit by a car, because that’s what witnesses told them, but police later discovered that wasn’t true, Nichols said. Bass was beaten to death with a lead pipe.
Randy Baker, 17, of 462 Vanda Drive and Jeremy Durant, 18, of 711 B E. Smith St., both of Timmonsville were arrested Friday and charged in connection with Bass’ death.
The suspects in the case knew Bass but police don’t have a motive for the crime, Nichols said.
“Mr. Bass didn’t bother anybody,” he said. “We never had any problems with him. It was kind of random.”
The case remains under investigation, Nichols said.
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This person has been arrested twice in November 2008 for lynching and disorderly conduct and now for murder! Is the system blind to the patterns? Did it not look like it was gang related with the other charges? A man is DEAD because of this coward. What is it going to take for us as a whole to say enough is enough. We all turn our heads when it’s somebody else but when it hits home then we want to do something about it. The time is now! My prayers goes out to the family of the murdered man.
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