On the night of January 20, 2023, a single-car accident on May Branch Road in Saluda County, South Carolina, initially appeared to be a tragic but straightforward incident. First responders arrived at the scene to find a 2007 Nissan Altima that had veered off the road, struck a mailbox, and overturned in a ditch. The lone occupant of the vehicle, 26-year-old Alex Kewan Donaldson of Orangeburg, was found deceased.
However, the routine investigation into the crash took a sharp turn
following an autopsy. The Saluda County Coroner determined that Donaldson had not died from injuries sustained in the wreck, but rather from a fatal gunshot wound. This discovery transformed the case into a homicide investigation, prompting the Saluda County Sheriff's Office to delve deeper into the circumstances leading up to the crash. Investigators learned that just minutes before the 911 call reporting the accident, another call had been received about shots being fired in the same area.
The investigation soon identified two suspects in connection with Donaldson's death: Bernard Gilliam Jr. and Tridarin Weaver. Warrants were issued for their arrests on charges of murder and possession of a weapon during the commission of a violent crime. A manhunt ensued, involving the Saluda County Sheriff's Office, the U.S. Marshals Fugitive Task Force, and the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division's Fugitive Task Force.
By the end of February 2023, both Gilliam and Weaver were located and taken into custody. Their arrests marked a significant development in the investigation, bringing a sense of progress to a case that had begun as a seemingly accidental death and unraveled into a complex homicide. The collaborative efforts of multiple law enforcement agencies were crucial in apprehending the two men now charged with the murder of Alex Donaldson.
