In the early morning hours of Thursday, April 6, 2023, the quiet of a Lancaster, South Carolina neighborhood was broken by violence. Inside a home on Hughes Street, 51-year-old Timothy Barbee was shot. Police were called to the scene around 1 a.m. and discovered Barbee lying on the floor. First responders provided medical attention before he was rushed to the Medical University of South Carolina-Lancaster, but his injuries proved fatal, and he died at the hospital.
The investigation into
the male victim's death was immediately considered a homicide. As detectives processed the scene, they found not only Timothy Barbee's body but also a deceased dog that had been shot inside the residence. The presence of multiple shell casings suggested a violent encounter. The probe involved Lancaster Police Department detectives, the Lancaster County multijurisdictional violent crime task force, and the coroner's office. Investigators began to piece together the evidence, which suggested the fatal shooting was connected to a burglary.
For weeks, the case remained under investigation without a suspect being publicly named. Then, a breakthrough came. Investigators identified Derrick Brown as the individual allegedly responsible for the killing. On a Monday in May 2023, Brown was located and arrested in the neighboring Kershaw County. He is facing a slate of serious charges, including murder, first-degree burglary, possession of a firearm during the commission of a violent crime, and malicious injury to animals. Following his arrest, Derrick Brown was held in jail without bond.
