In the summer of 2017, the quiet, rural landscape of Chesterfield County, South Carolina, became the scene of a grim discovery. On the morning of Wednesday, July 19th, a farmer driving along Patrick Fire Tower Road in the vast Sandhills State Forest noticed something disturbing on the shoulder of the road. It was the body of a young man, who was later identified as 23-year-old Rashaad Rodrigo Jackson of Hartsville.
The discovery sent a shockwave through the community, turning a peaceful country road into a major crime scene.
Investigators from the Chesterfield County Sheriff's Office, along with agents from the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division, descended on the remote location. It was immediately apparent that Jackson's death was a homicide. He had been shot multiple times, and no effort had been made to conceal his body. More than a dozen evidence markers were placed along both sides of the dirt road, indicating the presence of numerous shell casings. The physical evidence at the scene, including footprints, suggested to investigators that several people may have been present and that a struggle might have taken place before the fatal shots were fired.
The timing of the crime was narrowed down by the investigators. They believed the incident occurred after a heavy rainfall the previous night and sometime after daylight on the morning his body was found. The location of the crime scene, not far from the Darlington County line, led authorities to consider the possibility that the case might have originated in the Hartsville area, given that was Jackson's hometown. An autopsy was ordered to be performed to assist in the ongoing investigation. As of the initial reports, no suspects had been identified, and no arrests had been made in connection with the death of Rashaad Rodrigo Jackson, leaving a community to mourn and a family to await answers.
