Authorities believe bodies found in Columbia, Aiken County likely linked
Hours after a West Columbia woman was killed in Richland County on Saturday, a West Columbia man’s body was found in Aiken County. Now law enforcement officials believe those cases are likely connected.
Charles Jason Carmichael, 40, was charged with murder following the fatal shooting of the woman, whose body was found in Columbia, according to the Richland County Sheriff’s Department.
About 44 miles to the west in Batesburg, the body of Rufus E. Carmichael Jr., 48, was discovered on the side of a road. Rufus E. Carmichael Jr. is the brother of Charles Jason Carmichael.
Ashli G. Haigler was killed in a shooting that happened at about 5 a.m. Saturday, Richland County Coroner Naida Rutherford said Monday. The 28-year-old West Columbia resident was found at the intersection of McCaw Road and Malcolm Drive, according to a news release. That’s in northeast Columbia, between S.C. 277 and Two Notch Road, near Fontaine Road.
When deputies arrived, they found Haigler dead in a car, the Richland County Sheriff’s Department said. She had been shot in the upper body.
Richland County Sheriff Leon Lott said at a Monday news conference that Haigler’s 5-year-old child was also in the car, but was unharmed. Lott said that as deputies began investigating Haigler’s death, they learned that Rufus Carmichael Jr., who was the father of Haigler’s child, was missing.
Then, at about 2 p.m. Saturday, Aiken County sheriff’s deputies said they responded to the 100 block of Holder Road in Batesburg, where witnesses pointed them to a dead body in a nearby treeline. It was the body of Rufus Carmichael Jr.
“So we’ve got Aiken County with one victim, and we have a victim here in Richland County,” Lott said. “They are tied together, and investigators have been following leads and have come up with a suspect, Charles Jason Carmichael, the brother of Rufus Carmichael.”
Charles Carmichael was subsequently charged with Haigler’s murder, the sheriff’s department said. The 40-year-old was also charged with possession of a weapon during a violent crime, and no bond was set on either count, jail records show. He was arrested on Koon Road at about 3:30 p.m. Saturday, the sheriff’s department told The State.
Lott said that when Charles Carmichael was arrested, deputies recovered a gun and a “vehicle that was covered in blood.”
The sheriff said investigators had not yet determined a motive in the killings and noted the case is still under investigation. Lott said Richland deputies continue to work with Aiken authorities to determine the circumstances behind Rufus Carmichael Jr.’s death, specifically whether he was killed in Richland County or Aiken County.
