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By Jay King
HOMETOWN NEWS
Just one week after the brutal murder of an eight-year-old and 10 days after the shooting death of a serial killer who terrorized nearby Cherokee County, area residents are still trying to come to terms with how rapidly violence can devastate a community.
Several hundred area motorcyclists accompanied the family of slain rising Reidville Elementary 3rd grader Heather Brooke Center Sunday as she was laid to rest in Duncan while drivers at nearby Cherokee Speedway passed the helmet during racing Saturday night and raised $2,600 for the Center family.
Such outpourings of community support are typical of how residents of Spartanburg County have reacted to the aftermath of Center’s brutal murder. Others continue to ask “Why” as investigators build the case against the man accused of her slaying.
Spartanburg County Sheriff’ Chuck Wright said Friday that the crime has shaken his department just as it has shaken the community and that his officers are trying to come to terms with what greeted them near Chesnee last Wednesday in response to Center’s murder.
“I don’t have any answers about why this happened,” Wright said, adding that investigators and deputies joined coroner’s office personnel in an extensive debriefing Thursday to try to come to terms with dealing with such a brutal crime.
Coroner Rusty Clevenger said Friday that he was grateful to the sheriff for the opportunity to debrief his investigators following last Wednesday’s murder. He said the absolutely heinous nature of the crime left him and his investigators reeling from the emotions of having to deal with such an emotionally charged crime scene.
Clevenger said that the crime scene near Chesnee in the Fingerville community was difficult because it involved not only having to deal with the brutal shooting of an eight-year-old child but also left several shocked and traumatized child witnesses in desperate need of comfort and answers.
Clevenger said that after he arrived at the scene he and his investigators had to tamp down their visceral human reactions to what confronted them in order to do the job. He said that in such circumstances it’s almost impossible for investigators not to immediately identify with the victim and experience a surge of emotions.
Wright said that one of the things that made this murder the most difficult crime he has encountered in his years of law enforcement was the fact that the victim was someone he and his family knew, someone they had watched grow up from the age of three even though it wasn’t until after he got home that he realized that the victim was the same little girl who played baseball with his children.
“I really think God did not allow me to figure out who that was until I got home,” Wright said. He added that the first thing he did when he got home was hug and kiss his kids about 20 times.
Clevenger said Wright called him late on Wednesday evening sobbing with the realization that Center was the victim.
Wright said that his reaction was no different from all those who knew and loved Center.
“She had just such a good little outlook on things,” Wright said. “She was a cute girl, very innocent.”
Elizabeth Sima, the principal at Reidville Elementary School where Center attended said that the crime was heartbreaking because Center had been part of the school family since she was a four-year-old kindergarten student.
“Reidville is a very close family,” Sima said. “We are grieving for her family and along with her family. Everyone knows each other and loves each other.
“Our little Brook is in God’s comforting arms,” she added. “We love this little one. Our comfort is in God’s hands, and we are getting lots of support from each other.”
The sheriff and the coroner said that even when crimes involve such personal connections and such emotionally charged circumstances, their officers and investigators still have a job to do to process a crime scene and figure out what happened. Wright said that this was also why he was so proud of his first responding officers who cornered the suspect, 50-year-old Ricky Lee Blackwell, shortly after the shooting.
The sheriff said his officers could have shot Blackwell when they found him still carrying the weapon he had used on Center but that they managed to subdue the suspect after he shot himself in the abdomen.
“It was very emotional.” Wright said of the scene. “I am so proud of the restraint they showed.”
When asked what his response would be to the many area residents who say the deputies would have saved the taxpayers money and time if they’d just meted out summary justice at the scene, Wright said that his deputies have to be better than that and that even when they have other thoughts they have an obligation to enforce the law.
Wright also said he wants to make sure Blackwell makes it safely to trial so he will have to face a jury of his peers and the families and community members devastated by the murder. He also said he doesn’t think Blackwell’s actions are those of someone who lost his mind.
“I don’t want to hear any of that horse manure about him being crazy,” Wright said. “That was a well-thought-out execution.”
Seventh Circuit Solicitor Trey Gowdy very emotionally announced last Thursday that he would be seeking the death penalty in the case against Blackwell.
“The execution of a child shocks the conscience of this community and warrants seeking society’s ultimate punishment,” Gowdy said.
Both Wright and Clevenger continued to urge the community to pray for the families affected by the horrific crime.
jking@hometown-news.com
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