In the early morning hours of May 14, 2014, a gathering of friends in Honea Path, South Carolina, took a tragic and fatal turn, resulting in the death of 25-year-old Blake Randell Wardell. What began as a misguided 'game' ended with a gunshot wound that claimed the young man's life and led to a complex investigation involving shifting stories and multiple arrests.
The group of about ten individuals, including Wardell, discovered an old bulletproof vest at a residence on Broadmouth Church
Road. In a moment of reckless curiosity, Wardell donned the vest and allowed others to shoot at him with a small-caliber firearm to test its effectiveness. During this perilous activity, one of the shots missed the protective plating of the vest, striking Wardell in the chest. Emergency services were called to the scene, but paramedics were unable to revive him, and he was pronounced dead in the home's garage from a single gunshot wound.
Initially, 18-year-old Taylor Ann Kelly claimed responsibility for the fatal shot and was arrested and charged with involuntary manslaughter. She told investigators that Wardell had asked her to shoot him while he wore the vest. However, as the Anderson County Sheriff's Office delved deeper into the incident, inconsistencies in her account began to emerge. A few days later, the investigation took a significant turn when Kelly admitted that she had lied to protect the actual shooter.
Following Kelly's confession, her involuntary manslaughter charge was dropped, and she was instead charged with accessory after the fact to a felony. The focus of the investigation then shifted to another individual present that night, 25-year-old Timothy Dwayne Fisher. Authorities subsequently arrested Fisher and charged him with involuntary manslaughter in connection with Wardell's death. In 2015, Timothy Fisher was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter and was sentenced to five years of probation for his role in the tragic and senseless death of Blake Wardell.
