A father and his stepdaughter were shot, and a man who tried to intervene was wounded, after a minor automobile crash in South Carolina.
Nick Wall, 45, and his 21-year-old stepdaughter, Laura Anderson, both from Georgetown, died in separate hospitals after being shot by a man they crashed into in a random minor automobile accident on Monday afternoon.
A third man who witnessed the crash and ensuing altercation was shot, but survived the incident, remaining in critical condition, as he came to check on the passengers and investigate the situation.
Ty Sheem Ha Sheem Walters III reportedly fled into a nearby forest after the shooting, but was arrested shortly after attempting to escape as bloodhound units assisted in tracking him down.
Police say Walters is responsible for the shooting, and Walters is current facing double murder charges as well as an attempted murder charge. His bond hearing is scheduled for September.
ABC4 reported that Laura was on the path to follow her mother’s footsteps in becoming a teacher, according to her family. She had also moved into her first home within a week of the fatal shooting.
“She’s an amazing sister-in-law, amazing daughter, amazing mother, and a wife and I just can’t imagine what she’s going through right now. My brother-in-law Nick absolutely loved my sister-in-law with his whole heart,” said Nick’s wife and Laura’s mother Kimberly, who lost two of her seven family members in the double homicide.
“They both meant so much to so many people,” said the victim’s aunt, Jenna Johnson
“Anyone who’s ever met or known Laura or Nick, they knew two of the most wonderful people,” added Johnson.
The family revealed that Nick was a devoted and very religious man, according to WBTW.
“My niece was simply a gorgeous person inside and out. She had a very positive bubbly personality. She was starting school next week to become a teacher just like her mom.”
“She had a very close relationship with her mom, Kimberly, who’s my sister-in-law; and she absolutely adored her siblings, especially her little sister Jenna, who has Down’s syndrome,” Johnson continued.
“I don’t understand how a simple fender bender they called it could turn into double murder and an attempted to murder,” Lynn Lambert, a close friend of the family, said. “Why? I honestly didn’t think it was real. Who does this?”
“Something I encourage us all to do is hold onto the hope that we will meet them again in heaven one day,” said Johnson. “Even though now we feel an overwhelming loss, that’s what we can hold onto.”
