On the evening of May 16, 2015, in Florence, South Carolina, the life of 25-year-old Terrell Quantrev Smith was tragically cut short. Smith was walking down West Dixie Street around 8:30 p.m. when he was shot. He was quickly transported to a nearby hospital, but succumbed to his injuries later that night. The Florence County Coroner later confirmed that the cause of death was a gunshot wound.
Smith, a resident of Florence, was born on April 12, 1989.
The initial investigation into the shooting revealed that two suspects had fled the scene immediately after the incident. For a time, the case remained under active investigation by the Florence Police Department and the Florence County Coroner's Office, with no immediate arrests made. The authorities appealed to the public for any information that could lead to a breakthrough in the case.
A significant development eventually came with the identification of Zafir Abdul Bethea, then 22 years old, as a suspect in Smith's murder. At the time he was implicated in Smith's death, Bethea was already out on bond for a separate murder charge. Court records indicate that Bethea was accused of fatally shooting Smith.
Ultimately, Zafir Abdul Bethea pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter in the 2015 killing of Terrell Quantrev Smith. This plea was part of a larger legal resolution in which Bethea also admitted guilt to another killing in Florence County. As a result of his plea, Bethea was sentenced to 30 years in prison, bringing a form of legal closure to the case.
