On a late summer afternoon in Westminster, South Carolina, the life of Roger Lane Qualls, a 63-year-old white male, was brought to a violent and unexpected end. On Sunday, August 30, 2020, authorities received a distressing call around 2:15 p.m. reporting that a man had been shot at a residence on Qualls Hill Drive, located in the Madison Community near the Georgia state line. The individual who made the call was not the victim.
Upon their arrival, deputies and paramedics discovered Qualls suffering from gunshot wounds. Despite the efforts of emergency responders, his injuries proved fatal. The Oconee County Coroner's Office was summoned to the scene and officially identified the victim.
The investigation into the death of Roger Lane Qualls, a former painter and avid fisherman who was remembered for his love of the outdoors, immediately commenced. The Oconee County Sheriff's Office sought assistance from the public, appealing for any information that could shed light on the circumstances surrounding the shooting. For nearly ten months, the case remained under active investigation as detectives worked to piece together the evidence and identify a suspect. The breakthrough in the case came in June of 2021 when investigators had gathered enough evidence to secure arrest warrants for a suspect.
The individual identified and charged in connection with the murder was Larry Thomas Henderson, a 23-year-old man from Gaffney, South Carolina. Henderson was already incarcerated in the Cherokee County Detention Center on unrelated charges when the warrants for the murder of Qualls were issued on June 16, 2021. On November 1, 2023, Henderson was transported to the Oconee County Detention Center and formally charged with Murder and Possession of a Weapon during the Commission of a Violent Crime. Evidence gathered during the investigation indicated that Henderson had shot Qualls multiple times with a small-caliber pistol.
Following his transfer to Oconee County, Larry Thomas Henderson appeared for a bond hearing where he was denied bond on both charges. He remains in custody, and a hold has also been placed on him by the Cherokee County Sheriff's Office. The case is now set to proceed through the judicial system, with Henderson awaiting a future appearance before a Circuit Court Judge. The investigation by the Oconee County Sheriff's Office is ongoing.
