Richland County Sheriff Leon Lott announced today arrests in connection with the bones found in Northeast Richland County. Jeremiah Jones (07-05-88), Allen Fulton (10-02-88), Victor Smith (04-17-84) and Darius Smith (04-28-90) are charged with murder.

Sheriff Lott states on July 20, 2009 at approximately 2:15 PM surveyors working behind the North Stone Apartment Complex (111 Elders Pond Circle - behind building 16) discovered the skeletal remains of a human body. The body was located in the wooded area wrapped in a shower curtain and a laundry hamper.

Sheriff Lott released details of what the investigation uncovered:

• Victor Smith told the three other suspects that the victim, a co-worker of Victor Smith’s from a nearby restaurant, stole money from him and that he planned to beat him up and get his money back. Smith enlisted the aid of the other three suspects in his plan.

• After the victim got off from work on the late evening of September 27, 2008 he went to Victor Smith’s residence located at 111 Elder’s Pond Circle, Apt. 6C.

• When the victim entered the home he sat down on the sofa to eat some food, which he brought in with him. Soon after that, the premeditated attack was initiated. The investigation revealed that all four suspects took an active role in the brutal assault, which involved fists, kicks, and the use other items which were used to inflict blunt force trauma. The investigation revealed Victor Smith ultimately brought the vicious attack to an end when he shot the victim with a handgun.

• The statements which were taken from the suspects indicated that the victim’s body was then wrapped in a shower curtain and laundry hamper and was carried out of the apartment and taken to a wooded lot behind building #16 of the same complex.

• The four suspects then began using cleaning supplies and paint to try to cover up the crime scene

RCSD Forensic Science Technicians were still able to find evidence of a crime scene inside of the apartment, despite the prior efforts to conceal the scene.  Assistance from the community was key in directing the investigation towards these four suspects.

Sheriff Lott adds that Fulton, Darius Smith, and Jones have been booked and transported to Alvin S. Glenn Detention Center. Victor Smith is currently serving time at the Mississippi Department of Corrections, for unrelated charges, and will be extradited back to Richland County after he serves his time there.