On a spring evening in Clearwater, South Carolina, 16-year-old Gail McFadgen's life was tragically cut short. On April 14, 2015, the female teenager was sitting on a wall outside a home on Diamond Street when she was struck by a bullet in a drive-by shooting that occurred at approximately 9 p.m. The single gunshot wound to her abdomen proved fatal, and her death was subsequently ruled a homicide.
In connection with the shooting, authorities arrested Santonio Torez Williams, a 21-year-old
man from North Augusta. He was charged with the murder of Gail McFadgen. Williams entered a plea of not guilty to the charge, and his trial was slated to begin in Aiken on January 31, 2017. The case against him was built upon witness accounts from the scene of the shooting.
The legal troubles for Williams did not end with the murder charge. While in jail awaiting trial, he faced further accusations of attempting to obstruct justice. He was indicted on charges of intimidating a court witness, accessory before the fact to a felony, and criminal conspiracy. According to prosecutors, Williams made a phone call from jail to a friend, in which he allegedly tried to arrange for the murder of a witness involved in his trial. This led to a separate investigation by the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division.
