Stephen Smith death, first ruled a hit-and-run, now being investigated as homicide following Murdaugh case

South Carolina cops are investigating the death of Stephen Smith — which came up in the recent high-profile trial of attorney Alex Murdaugh — as a homicide, says a local law firm working with Smith’s family.

The South Carolina Law Enforcement Division will participate in an exhumation of Smith’s body to gather more evidence, the Bland Richter law firm said Tuesday, citing a phone call with Chief Mark Keel.

The 19-year-old Smith was found dead on rural Hampton County, S.C., road after an alleged hit-and-run incident in 2015. Investigators initially thought the teen had been struck while walking from his car after running out of gas.

No suspect was ever identified and no arrests were made, although Paul Murdaugh and his brother Buster were interviewed as persons of interest.

The investigation halted and Smith’s death was labeled a highway vehicular manslaughter. But the recent trial of Alex Murdaugh for the 2021 murders of son Paul Murdaugh and wife Maggie Murdaugh prompted police to reopen the probe, according to Bland Richter.

Buster Murdaugh broke his silence about the matter on Monday, claiming he had no involvement whatsoever in Smith’s death.

The victim’s mother Sandy Smith has insisted that the death was no accident and that her son’s injuries were “not consistent with a hit-and-run.”

She recently started a GoFundMe page to raise money for an independent autopsy. The page has already secured over $80,000.

“We have a chance to right eight years of wrongs, and we intend to do just that,” lawyer Eric Bland of Bland Richter said in a statement.