Boys, 8 and 9, charged in shooting death of South Carolina man found dead on tractor

WESTMINSTER, S.C. (TCD) --

Two boys were charged with involuntary manslaughter in the shooting death of a 62-year-old man.

Oconee County Sheriff’s deputies responded to 1490 Coffee Road on the night of Wednesday, June 30. A woman called authorities after she found her 62-year-old husband unresponsive, sitting on a tractor with its engine running.

The woman said she went looking for her husband after she was unable to contact him. She found him slumped over the tractor’s steering wheel, the sheriff’s office said. The tractor had gone down an embankment and hit a tree.

The husband, identified as Danny Smith, had a gunshot wound in his back, which killed him, according to the autopsy report.

A .22-caliber rifle was taken into evidence.

Two boys, ages 8 and 9, allegedly fired the gun, the sheriff’s office said.

“After a consultation with the Solicitor’s Office, and based on the evidence obtained in our ongoing investigation, we believe that both juvenile males discharged a firearm in a reckless manner in the direction of Mr. Smith who was bush hogging on some family property,” says Oconee County Sheriff Mike Crenshaw. “At this time, it is still undetermined which shot ultimately struck and killed Mr. Smith. However, based upon South Carolina law, the hand of one is the hand of all and that is why Family Court has been petitioned in regards to charging both juveniles with Involuntary Manslaughter.”

The Oconee County Sheriff’s Office announced last week a petition was filed in family court to charge both boys with involuntary manslaughter in relation to Smith’s shooting death.

Sheriff Crenshaw said that under South Carolina law, juveniles under the age of 10 cannot be detained, so both juveniles were remanded to the custody of their parents.

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