On an autumn evening in Lancaster, South Carolina, the life of 42-year-old Jeffery Dale Barrett was cut short by gunfire. On Saturday, October 3, 2015, Barrett was found with gunshot wounds in a ditch on Thomasville Street and was pronounced dead at Springs Memorial Hospital. The male victim had been shot in the chest and leg.
Within hours of the shooting, investigators from the Lancaster County Sheriff's Office made an arrest.
Based on evidence and witness accounts, they took 16-year-old Derrick Leron Stalk into custody at a nearby home. Stalk was charged as an adult with the murder of Jeffery Barrett.
The motive for the deadly encounter appears to have stemmed from a prior dispute. Family members of Barrett reported that he had recently confronted Stalk about stolen money. This confrontation allegedly escalated to a physical altercation a few days before the shooting, during which Stalk reportedly struck Barrett.
Following his arrest, Derrick Leron Stalk was taken to a Department of Juvenile Justice facility in Columbia. While news sources at the time extensively covered the details of the crime and the swift arrest of the teenage suspect, the final disposition of the murder charge against him is not detailed in the available online reports.
