In the summer of 2014, the life of William Todd 'T.J.' Watlington Jr., a 27-year-old male, was tragically cut short in Columbia, South Carolina. On the evening of Thursday, July 24, 2014, Watlington and another man, 22-year-old Joshua Samuel Cullifer, were found deceased from gunshot wounds inside a home on Kentucky Street in the Olympia neighborhood.
The discovery was made after officers responded to the residence, finding both victims in the lower level of the house.
An investigation into the double homicide revealed that the two men had been involved in a verbal altercation over drugs with an acquaintance. This dispute escalated, leading to both Watlington and Cullifer being shot in the upper body. The Richland County Coroner's Office confirmed that gunshot wounds were the cause of death for both men. Watlington, a resident of Lexington, was an auto mechanic and a devoted father to his young daughter. He was remembered by his family as a loving son and a protective brother.
Authorities quickly identified a suspect in the killings. Carlos Flores, who was 17 at the time, was arrested and charged with two counts of murder in connection with the deaths of Watlington and Cullifer. A 15-year-old female was also taken into custody and charged with being an accessory after the fact; her case was slated to be handled in family court. Flores was apprehended in Aiken County after the vehicle he was in was spotted driving erratically on Interstate 20. Following his arrest in Aiken, where he faced separate charges, he was slated to be transferred to the Alvin S. Glenn Detention Center in Richland County to face the murder charges.
