Suspect charged with murder after person fatally shot in Chester County, police say
A man has been charged with murder after a person was killed late Friday in a shooting in Chester County, police said.
The victim was shot on 4th Street in the Eureka community just outside the Chester city limits, said Chester County Sheriff Max Dorsey.
Dorsey’s office released a statement on their Facebook and Twitter social media pages Saturday stating Charles Ross Lockett, 39, was captured and charged with murder.
Lockett remains in the Chester County Detention Center on the murder charge, jail records show.
Deputies began a homicide investigation after the shooting around 9 p.m. Friday, Dorsey said. By Saturday afternoon, deputies stated on social media they had an arrest warrant for Lockett on the murder charge. He was taken into custody late Saturday, officials said.
A conviction for murder in South Carolina carries a sentence of 30 years to life, state law shows.
Lockett has past convictions for burglary, drugs and weapons, South Carolina court records show. In 2016, he was sentenced to five years in prison for illegal possession of a gun by a person convicted of a violent felony, court records show.
The Chester County Coroner’s Office has not released any identifying information about the victim.
The area had two shootings in the middle of May, including a homicide where two men were later charged with murder.
In 2019, after several shootings inside the city limits and nearby within county limits, Chester police and the sheriff’s office started a zero tolerance violence crackdown that included assistance from South Carolina SLED officers and federal agents.
There has been controversy in recent weeks in Chester after police released body camera footage from a 2019 shooting in which an officer killed an armed, handcuffed Black suspect outside a Walmart. South Carolina prosecutors didn’t file charges, but federal prosecutors are reviewing the incident.
Chester political and law enforcement officials held a unity rally earlier this month following protests around the state and county in response to the death of George Floyd in Minnesota while in police custody.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.
This story was originally published June 20, 2020 at 10:11 AM.
