In the early hours of February 7, 2023, the quiet of a Winnsboro, South Carolina community was broken by the discovery of a double homicide. Inside a residence on Marsh Lane, deputies found the bodies of 23-year-old Theron Byrd and his friend, 22-year-old Malik Butler. Both men, former football teammates at Fairfield Central High School, had been fatally shot.
The Fairfield County Sheriff's Office immediately launched an investigation into what they described as a senseless tragedy.
As the investigation progressed, authorities identified a suspect in the killings. Less than a month after the discovery of the bodies, 20-year-old Caleb Beryl Davis was arrested and charged with the murders of Theron Byrd and Malik Butler. Davis was also charged with two counts of possession of a weapon during a violent crime. Investigators were able to develop Davis as a suspect through their work on the case. At the time he was charged with the double homicide, Davis was already incarcerated at the Fairfield County Detention Center on unrelated charges from February 24. Shockingly, it was revealed that at the time of the killings, Davis had been out on bond for a previous murder charge from February 2021.
The motive for the shooting has not been publicly disclosed. According to Theron Byrd's father, his son was spending the night at his friend's house when they were both shot and killed in their sleep. He stated that a neighbor and longtime acquaintance is accused of the crime, which also involved robbery. This tragic event marked the beginning of an incredibly difficult year for the Byrd family, as they would suffer another devastating loss just five months later with the shooting death of Theron's younger brother, Tyon Byrd.
