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‘That’s (10) black children’s lives destroyed’ by tragedy Lee County coping with teens’ deaths, arrests of suspects
SLED: Instructor sold training certificates to tri-county applicants
BY MATT BRUCE matthew@theitem.com BISHOPVILLE — In a different world, Shakez Bracey would likely be attending his final homecoming dance Saturday night at Lee Central High School. But as fate would have it, his family is making funeral arrangements, and the high school has postponed those yearly festivities after the Bishopville teen’s recent death. Bracey’s disappearance generated an outpouring of concern among Lee County residents last weekend. The discovery of his body in a wooded field this week culminated a perplexing string of violence that has rocked the small community. “This just doesn’t happen in Lee County — well, I guess obviously it does,” Bracey’s father, Sharif Bracey, said Thursday. “With not only him (Shakez), but the others involved — a total of (10) teens. If you’re not affected by that one way or another as a resident of this county, I don’t know who you are. It’s just a difficult thing. It’s sad. That’s (10) black children’s lives destroyed.” Family members milled outside of Shakez Bracey’s home Thursday and continued to grieve for the teen they once called the Great Tylik, a childhood moniker that plays off his middle name. Loved ones remembered him as an adventurous, outspoken sports lover who had dreams of following in his father’s footsteps to become a welder. Debbie Williams, an aunt
BY JIM HILLEY jim@theitem.com
MATT WALSH / THE SUMTER ITEM
Kiki Williams, left, Shakeim Bracey and Mae Boyd, center, grandmother of Shakez Bracey, look at photos of the teen who was shot to death on Friday night. Bracey was a senior at Lee Central High School. who toiled alongside Bracey through the hot summer, said he was a dedicated worker. “I just want people to remember him for being a good-hearted person and remember him for who he was and not for what he did,” she said. “I don’t want anybody
to judge him because he never had a chance to grow up. That’s why it’s so devastating because of the way he died and how he was killed. He never got a chance at life, to be an adult.” The family was not alone in its mourning Thursday. An entire community con-
tinued to recover from the shock of a pair of connected shooting deaths that its top law enforcement official described as heartbreaking. The killings left two Bishopville teenagers dead and eight others behind bars.
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Municipal workers learn tree safety to prepare for disasters BY JIM HILLEY jim@theitem.com
JIM HILLEY / THE SUMTER ITEM
Lonnie Peyton of Carolina Tree Care demonstrates chainsaw safety at the Municipal Tree Worker Training Workshop on Tuesday at Swan Lake-Iris Gardens.
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74 residents ordered to surrender their CWPs
The Municipal Tree Worker Training Workshop on Tuesday at Swan Lake-Iris Gardens’ Heath Pavilion had its beginnings in disaster and tragedy. After the ice storm in February and the death of a child struck by a falling branch in Irmo, Brock McDaniel, an arborist for the City of Sumter, saw the need for additional training for workers involved in maintaining trees and dealing with tree-related hazards. During the storm, crews from municipalities, the South Carolina Department of Transportation, electric companies and private tree companies joined each other in the enormous job of cleaning up toppled trees and tree limbs. “We were working together, help-
ing each other out,” McDaniel said. “We all realized we had something we could bring to the table.” McDaniel said the idea of joint training was brought up to the Sumter tree board and the South Carolina Forestry Commission. “It all kind of spawned from there,” he said. At the workshop, presenters from the S.C. Forestry Commission, Duke Energy, the DOT and Carolina Tree Care made presentations to municipal employees from Sumter and a number of nearby cities about everything from the social value of trees to the number of cones workers are required to set up when diverting traffic. Jimmy Walters, a retired urban forester for the commission, made a presentation about the importance
DEATHS, B5 Michelle L. Hanrahan Lee Ernest Hicks Charles Smith II Rakeem G. McDonald Jr. James Wright Allen L. James Margie V. Brunson
Charles Wells Ida Mae C. Walker Dontrell Fortune Esau D. Green Martha O. Gamble Stephen James
SEE TREES, PAGE A10
Thirty-seven Concealed Weapons Permit holders in Sumter County must surrender their permits or face charges, the State Law Enforcement Division has announced. Thom Berry, a spokesman for SLED, said 37 permit holders in Sumter County will have to surrender their permits within 15 days of receiving a letter notifying them of their permit’s revocation. Berry said 10 permit holders in Lee County, and 27 in Clarendon County must also surrender their permits. The permits were revoked after officials charged 30-yearold Andrew Gajadhar of Columbia with 29 counts of perjury for allegedly selling concealed weapons training certificates without providing the required training. South Carolina law enforcement said 350 permit holders in 27 counties are being notified by mail that their permits are revoked and must be surrendered. “We were in the process of conducting another, unrelated investigation, when he came across this,” Berry said. “He was actually selling the training certificates an individual has to turn in as part of the application paperwork.” Berry said law enforcement officials decided against charging the permit applicants who allegedly obtained the fraudulent certificates from Gajadhar and included them in their CWP applications. “We discussed it, and the decision was made that the fairest process was to revoke the permits,” he said. “Applicants with revoked permits will be able to go to another instructor and get the necessary training and reapply if they want a permit.” Applicants for CWPs must sign the application acknowledging false information may cause denial of the application and subject the applicant to criminal penalties. The application states: “My signature certifies I have reviewed the entire application and all information on it is true and correct.” Holders of revoked permits who fail to respond as requested will be hearing from law enforcement, Berry said. “We will follow up on that with contacts,” he said. “They have 15 days, and the procedure is outlined in the letter they received.” SLED said the charges against Gajadhar are misdemeanors, punishable by a fine not less than $100, six months in jail or both. SLED said the individuals who submitted the apparently fraudulent certificates will be allowed to reinstate their permits once they produce documents that they have received the proper training.
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