He was first arrested for dumping a body, now man faces more severe charges, SC cops say
Weeks after a South Carolina man was arrested for discarding a 25-year-old shooting victim’s body, the Leesville resident was charged with more crimes — including murder — the Lexington County Sheriff’s Department said.
In addition to murder, 34-year-old Jesse Lou Gregory was charged with grand larceny, possession of a weapon during a violent crime and circumventing an electronic monitoring device, the sheriff’s department said Wednesday in a news release.
On Nov. 12, Gregory was also charged with desecration of human remains, driving under suspension, failure to stop for blue lights, resisting arrest and a drug charge, jail records show. At that time, Gregory was considered a person of interest in the homicide investigation, according to the sheriff’s department.
“These charges are the result of our investigation into a body that was found Nov. 12 at the corner of Old Barnwell Road and White Knoll Way,” Lexington County Sheriff Jay Koon said in the release. “Gregory was identified as a person of interest in that crime and arrested Nov. 13 and charged with desecrating human remains after investigators said he discarded the body of a shooting victim.”
Gregory is accused of shooting Nicholas Kenneth Hendrix with a shotgun, according to Koon.
Hendrix’s body was discovered in the 1500 block of Old Barnwell Road, and he was pronounced dead at the scene, according to Lexington County Coroner Margaret Fisher. That’s in Lexington, in the area south of Interstate 20, between White Knoll High School and White Knoll Elementary School.
No other injuries were reported.
“Gregory told detectives he shot Hendrix while the two of them were driving around in the Leesville area,” Koon said. “Hendrix’s injuries and evidence collected from the car is inconsistent with Gregory’s account of how things unfolded.”
Information about a motive for the shooting was not available.
Koon said Gregory stole a car the day before he shot Hendrix, which prompted the grand larceny charge, the sheriff’s department said. Gregory was arrested in Aiken County with the vehicle, according to the release.
“Before the sequence of events unfolded, we’ve confirmed Gregory failed to properly charge a GPS electronic ankle monitoring device he was required to wear as a condition of his bond from a previous charge,” Koon said.
In February 2023, Gregory pleaded guilty to a third-degree domestic violence charge, one of several times he’s been arrested in Lexington County over the past 15 years, court records show.
Bond was denied on the slate of new charges and Gregory’s being held in the Lexington County Detention Center, jail records show.
