In the early morning hours of July 27, 2017, the life of 27-year-old William R. Simmons of Loris, South Carolina, was tragically cut short. Simmons was fatally wounded by a gunshot in the Cedar Branch area of Loris. After the shooting, he was taken to a local hospital and then transferred to Grand Strand Medical Center, where he succumbed to his injuries around 6 a.m.
The Horry County Coroner's Office later confirmed that a gunshot wound was the cause of death.
According to reports, a man who was with Simmons at a home on Cedar Branch Road heard gunshots. When he went outside to investigate, he discovered Simmons lying in a ditch. The man then transported Simmons to the hospital. While the shooting was initially reported to have occurred at a club on Paddock Road, the investigation pointed to the incident taking place near Cedar Branch Road.
Shortly after the shooting, the Horry County Police Department launched a homicide investigation. Their efforts led to the arrest of 22-year-old Deterris Lamar Jackson, also from Loris. Jackson was subsequently charged with murder and possession of a weapon during the commission of a violent crime. Following his arrest, he was held at the J. Reuben Long Detention Center.
The legal proceedings against Deterris Lamar Jackson did not reach a conclusion in a trial. An obituary for a man named Deterris Jackson from Loris, South Carolina, indicates that he passed away on February 7, 2018. His birthdate of August 8, 1995, aligns with the age of the suspect at the time of William Simmons' death. This strongly suggests that the suspect in the murder case died before the case could be adjudicated. Publicly available information does not specify the cause of Jackson's death or the official status of the murder investigation following his passing.
