Stephen Smith: Family lawyer of gay teen found dead near Murdaugh home believes his death was hate crime
ISLANDTON, SOUTH CAROLINA: Amid Stephen Smith's death officially being ruled a homicide, the lawyer for the South Carolina teen's family believes that the death seemed like a hate crime. Talking about the mysterious death in 2015, the lawyer representing the Smith family said, "When you start going down the possibility that it was a hate crime and they took a rape kit, this is an openly gay 19-year-old kid."
Attorney Eric Bland continued his statement by saying, "And this isn't in New York City or California or Washington DC, Philadelphia. It's in the Lowcountry, South Carolina, where being openly gay in 2015 probably is not the most popular thing to be," reported People.
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'I think it was a hate crime'
South Carolina authorities have not named a suspect but officially ruled his death a homicide last week, eight years after the killing. The death was ruled a hit-and-run incident at the time. Bland said, "I think it was a hate crime. Meaning that it could be that a bunch of thug kids decide, 'Hey, we're going to beat up the gay kid,' or it was somebody who felt that Stephen was going to out them in their relationship or was uncomfortable with Stephen in their friendship."
"I think that's what we're going to find because Stephen had told his mother that he was dating somebody of prominence. He was very secretive about his lifestyle. He wasn't secretive about the fact that he was gay, but he respected the boundaries of people who he had relationships with," Bland continued. The 19-year-old was found dead near the Murdaugh family estate three miles away from his car on a dark road in Hampton County, South Carolina, on July 8, 2015.
Was Buster Murdaugh involved in Smith's death?
Throughout the investigation into the death of Smith, the Murdaugh name was highlighted several times as having a possible connection to the teen's killing, according to FITS news. Smith and Alex Murdaugh's surviving son Buster Murdaugh were high school classmates. However, investigators have not mentioned any connection between the Murdaugh family and the death or accused Buster of being involved in the killing. Buster has vehemently denied having any involvement in the untimely death of Smith.