On Christmas Eve of 2017, the quiet of Lake City, South Carolina, was broken by a home invasion that ended in the tragic death of a 74-year-old Black man named Johnny Cameron. Mr. Cameron was fatally shot inside his residence on Georgetown Road and was pronounced dead at the scene. An autopsy was later performed at the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston to determine the precise cause of death.
The investigation that followed pointed to a robbery gone wrong, with law
enforcement identifying five individuals as suspects in the violent crime. The Florence County Sheriff's Office moved swiftly, and initial arrests included Anthony Markell Hudson, Charlie Myron Roberson, and Carl Jerell McDowell, all of whom were charged with murder. The search continued for two other men, Curtis Roy Nelson and Justin Marquise Pringle, who were considered armed and dangerous.
Authorities issued charges against the remaining suspects in their absence. Nelson faced accusations of murder and armed robbery with a deadly weapon, while Pringle was charged with murder and the unlawful carrying of a pistol. The manhunt for Pringle came to an end in Columbus, Ohio, where a joint task force, including the Columbus Police Department SWAT team and the United States Marshals Service Fugitive Task Force, apprehended him. Pringle was then extradited back to Florence County to face legal proceedings alongside the other accused individuals. The case against all five suspects then began to move through the justice system, bringing a measure of closure to a community shaken by the violent loss of one of its residents.
