In the late summer of 2016, the community of Burton, South Carolina, was unsettled by the discovery of a local man's body. On the morning of Tuesday, September 27, a passing motorist on Stanley Farm Road noticed a distressing scene and alerted authorities. There, on the side of the road, lay 61-year-old Benjamin Campbell, a resident of nearby Roseida Road.
It was apparent he had not died of natural causes, and the Beaufort County Sheriff's deputies promptly launched a homicide investigation.
An autopsy later confirmed the violent nature of Campbell's death; he had sustained multiple gunshot wounds. As investigators delved into the circumstances surrounding the killing, their efforts eventually led them to a suspect. In December 2016, Ishmael Rivers, who was 18 years old at the time, was arrested and charged with the murder of Benjamin Campbell. Another individual, Rivers' brother William Heyward, was also initially implicated and charged as an accessory after the fact, though he was later cleared.
The legal process that followed was a protracted one, spanning several years and multiple trials. According to an affidavit signed around the time of his arrest, it was alleged that an altercation had occurred between Rivers and Campbell prior to the shooting. Prosecutors suggested that the nature of their relationship was connected to drugs. However, a murder weapon was never recovered, a detail that would prove significant in court.
The first attempt to try Rivers for the crime was halted when the defense successfully argued for a dismissal of the jury pool due to a lack of minority representation. A second trial ended in a mistrial after the jury was unable to reach a unanimous verdict. Finally, in April of 2021, a third jury heard the case against Ishmael Rivers. After four years of legal battles, the jury returned a verdict of not guilty on all charges, including murder and possession of a weapon during the commission of a violent crime. After the lengthy legal proceedings, no one was ultimately convicted for the death of Benjamin Campbell.
