Devon Epps Case Breaks

Word is just now coming out of a break in the Devon Epps case. A live press conference is slated for 4pm.

Somehow, I think I know what’s coming. Blogger is having some publishing problems. Not even sure this will get out.

3:52pm–Word just in. Amanda Smith, Devon Epps mother, has been arrested. News conference coming soon.

4:19pm–A quick news conference revealed few new details, but it gave everyone the one they wanted. Amanda Smith has been arrested and charged with murder in her son, Devon Epps, death. Here’s a Cliff’s Notes version of the newser:

A judge signed the murder warrant against Smith this morning and she was arrested this afternoon. Video showed an emotionless Smith being led into the Law Enforcement Center judicial chambers where she was made aware of the charges against her and told she will be held without bond in the Greenville County Detention Center.

Sheriff Steve Loftis said that the night of the murder, Epps was found with his mother outside the car. He was unspresponsive, take to Greenville Memorial Hospital, and declared dead.

Investigators followed more than 60 tips in the case and never found another viable suspect.

“It has been determined that Devon Epps death did not occur in the manner in which it was reported by his mother,” Loftis said “Amanda Smith is responsible for the death of her son.”

Loftis said Smith was “cool and calm” upon her arrest. He said that there was no one piece of evidence that cracked the case, but rather a lot of small “bits and pieces” that led them to the arrest.

Amanda Smith is eligible for the death penalty in South Carolina. There are several qualifying factors in this state for death penalty eligibility. The murder of a child under the age of eleven is one of those qualifiers.

The usually reticent 13th Circuit Solicitor Bob Ariail commented on the duration of the investigation by saying, “The community wants a quick answer, but the community wants the right answer.”

More to come.

Labels: Devon Epps