Local

Homicide victim found on rural state forest road

CHESTERFIELD COUNTY, S.C. — A man's body was found on the side of a country road in Chesterfield County late Wednesday morning.

The body was on the shoulder of Patrick Fire Tower Road in the Sandhills State Forest. A farmer driving by made the shocking discovery.

Sheriff Jay Brooks said the man had been shot several times, and no attempt was made to hide the body.

"We're miles from the closest houses, so nobody certainly heard anything, and so we've got a long way to go on this one," Brooks said.

South Carolina Law Enforcement Division agents placed more than a dozen evidence markers on both sides of the road.  Some of them marked the location of shell casings.   Investigators said Rashaad Jackson, 23, of Hartsville, was shot several times.

Deputies won't say if he was shot there on the scene or driven there to the rural road. However, they believe the body hasn't been there a full day.

"We do know that it happened after the big rain we had here last night, and it looked like it happened after daylight this morning," Brooks said.

Investigators also told Channel 9 that it appears that several people got out of a car by footprint tracks, and there may have been a struggle.

The crime scene is very close to the Darlington County line. Investigators believe it's possible it could be a case out of the Hartsville area.

The coroner was also on scene and will send the body to Newberry for an autopsy Thursday.

Read more top trending stories on wsoctv.com: