In a quiet corner of Edgefield County, a grim discovery was made on a Sunday evening in September 2022. A hunter, scouting in a wooded area off Deep Step Road, stumbled upon the body of a man, later identified as 42-year-old Christopher Lathrop, a white male from the local area. The discovery launched an intensive investigation by the Edgefield County Sheriff's Office, who quickly determined that Lathrop had not died of natural causes.
An autopsy would later confirm he had suffered multiple gunshot wounds to his neck and arms.
As investigators delved into Lathrop's final days, their attention was drawn to his two young neighbors on Hayes Drive, 19-year-old William Patrick Edward Barfield and 20-year-old Devon Raye Brock. It was soon discovered that the three men had been together the day before Lathrop’s body was found. The investigation suggested a sinister turn of events, indicating that Barfield and Brock had lured Lathrop to the remote, wooded location with a deadly intent. While a clear motive for the killing was not immediately released by authorities, the evidence against the two neighbors began to mount.
The diligent work of law enforcement led to a swift resolution in the case. Within a remarkably short period of just over twenty-four hours, both William Patrick Edward Barfield and Devon Raye Brock were taken into custody. A search of Brock's home uncovered the suspected murder weapon, and the vehicle believed to have been used in the commission of the crime was recovered from Barfield's family. The two young men were subsequently charged with murder, armed robbery, and possession of a firearm during the commission of a crime, bringing a swift, though somber, close to the initial phase of the investigation into the death of their neighbor, Christopher Lathrop.
