In the quiet community of Hollywood, South Carolina, a life was tragically cut short on the evening of October 15, 2016. Wayne Bennett, a 26-year-old male, was fatally wounded in a shooting that unfolded in the Adams Run area of Charleston County. The incident, which shattered the calm of the rural setting, left a family grieving and a community searching for answers.
Reports from that evening detail a chaotic scene that began with the sound of gunfire on Willtown Road.
In the immediate aftermath, a private vehicle rushed a wounded Bennett to a nearby St. Paul Fire Department station on Highway 162. From there, paramedics transported him to the trauma unit at the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston. Despite their efforts, Wayne Bennett succumbed to his injuries and was pronounced dead shortly after his arrival.
As emergency personnel tended to the victim, Charleston County Sheriff's deputies were dispatched to the scene of the shooting. There, they discovered Bennett's pickup truck, which had veered off the road, striking several mailboxes before coming to a stop against a tree. The vehicle's engine was still running, and the truck remained in gear. A closer inspection revealed the grim evidence of the preceding violence: multiple bullet holes riddled the rear of the truck. One of the bullets had tragically pierced the rear window, striking Bennett. Investigators also recovered several shell casings from the roadway, crucial pieces of evidence in the burgeoning homicide investigation.
The investigation into Wayne Bennett's death progressed, and within a month, authorities made an arrest. On November 15, 2016, Charleston County detectives took Robert Henry Campbell Jr., a 41-year-old Charleston resident, into custody. He was subsequently charged with murder and possession of a firearm during the commission of a violent crime. The arrest brought a measure of resolution to the initial phase of the investigation, though the legal proceedings to follow would determine the ultimate accountability for the untimely death of Wayne Bennett.
