'A loving, caring person': Community remembers woman killed, calls for change

On a balmy Saturday evening on Greenville’s South Leach Street, upwards of 40 people gathered for a dual purpose – to remember Susan Elaine Donald, who was found dead in an abandoned home  in July, and to call for change.

Donald, 68, of Greenville, died after she was deprived of oxygen from strangulation, and after an autopsy, her death was ruled a homicide.

Ricky Dick McCullough, 63, of Greenville, was charged with criminal sexual conduct and murder.

A somber crowd gathered as Shirley Caesar’s “I Remember Mama” played over an outdoor speaker. Attendees included friends, family, neighbors, and state Rep. Chandra Dillard (D-Greenville), who said she came to support Donald’s family.

Previous reporting: Greenville woman found dead in abandoned home was strangled, coroner says

The abandoned property where Donald was found is next door to the home of Stacy Donald, Susan Donald’s daughter.

“I’m going to make sure that the family that lives next door to this house does not have to walk out of their house and see this house,” said Bruce Wilson, who organized the event. Wilson, the founder and CEO of Fighting Injustice Together, spoke from a podium at the head of Stacy Donald’s driveway, just feet from the abandoned structure where Susan Donald’s body was found. “This is unacceptable. This house – something needs to be done with it.”

Wilson convened the gathering to call attention to Donald’s murder, which he said received little media coverage, and demand changes in the wake of her death, starting with the demolition of the abandoned home.

The home is privately owned, and Wilson acknowledged the city’s options for dealing with it are limited, though he described positive conversations with Greenville Mayor Knox White and Chief of Police J.H. Thompson.

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Wilson, who did not name the property owner, said that if overtures to the individual did not result in the house’s destruction, he would consider filing a lawsuit on behalf of Donald’s family.

“If he doesn’t do something quickly, then he’s going to have to pay a hefty bill,” Wilson said. “I’m not going to let this family be traumatized every time they come out of their house.”

Wilson also questioned a criminal justice system that allowed McCullough to walk free after serving just eight years of a 20-year prison sentence. He said McCullough had been incarcerated earlier this year for failing to register as a sex offender but had subsequently been released.

“Two months later is when he murdered Ms. Donald,” Wilson said. “So I have some unique questions for the parole board.”

The next speaker, community liaison Ma’ta Crawford, argued that a lack of investment in Donald’s neighborhood had enabled the crime.

“I see a streetlight down here on one hand that they say doesn’t work, and another streetlight that doesn’t even have a bulb,” she said. “I see a house where a lady was murdered and nobody’s trying to do anything about it. There’s an alley behind me that runs all the way down across this neighborhood behind these people’s house and there’s no protection. There’s not a fence. There’s not a light. It could have been a child.”

Other speakers, including community activist Tikeeta Wallace and members of Donald’s family, took the opportunity to remember Donald, a beloved mother, grandmother, neighbor and friend, and reflect on her contribution to her community.

Like Wilson, Wallace lamented the paucity of media coverage of the murder.

“Nobody knows the story of how beautiful Susan Donald is,” Wallace said through tears. “No one knows her personality. No one knows how she made her community smile. No one knows that she was the big mama around here.”

Donald’s son, Casey Donald, also spoke. He described his mother as “a loving, caring person” who urged him to “love everybody.”

“I hope justice gets served,” he said.

The speakers concluded their remarks with a candlelight vigil. Wallace sang as the assembled crowd bowed their heads over their candles. The event ended, as it had begun, with music.

This article originally appeared on Greenville News: Community remembers Susan Elaine Donald, calls for change after death