In the early morning hours of June 4, 2015, the body of 29-year-old LaCharles Dauntae Govan was discovered by a passerby in a grassy area near the woods beside Jerusalem Baptist Church on Steele Street in Fort Mill, South Carolina. Govan, a male resident of the area, had sustained a fatal gunshot wound in what was quickly determined to be the town's first homicide of the year.
The discovery sent ripples of shock and grief through the local Paradise neighborhood, particularly because many of Govan's family members lived just a short distance from where his body was found. His family expressed their profound loss and made public pleas for justice, hoping for a swift arrest in the case that had so violently claimed his life.
For nearly three years, the investigation into LaCharles Govan's death continued, a persistent effort by the Fort Mill Police Department. Then, in a significant breakthrough in June 2018, authorities announced the arrest of a suspect. The individual charged in connection with Govan's murder was 33-year-old Eric Neal Patton. At the time of his arrest for the murder, Patton was already incarcerated, serving an 18-year sentence in a South Carolina state prison for a series of other unrelated felonies, including armed robbery, drug offenses, and witness intimidation.
Patton was formally charged with the murder of LaCharles Govan and possession of a weapon during a violent crime. Following the service of the arrest warrants, he was transferred from the correctional institution to the York County Detention Center to await the prosecution phase of the case. A bond hearing was held where he was denied bond on both charges. The arrest brought a sense of relief to Govan's family, who expressed that they were looking forward to the suspect being prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. While authorities did not publicly release the specific details of what led them to identify Patton as the primary suspect after three years, they affirmed their continuous and unwavering dedication to solving the case from the very beginning.
