78-year-old woman accused of helping her grandson cover up a murder: Report

An elderly South Carolina woman is in custody and facing serious charges after police say she witnessed her grandson shoot and kill someone at her residence, and she then tried to help him cover the crime up.

Around 11:30 p.m. on January 24, 30-year-old Ryan O’Neil Woodruff allegedly shot and killed 18-year-old Ty’Quez Walker at the Georgetown, South Carolina, residence Woodruff shares with his grandmother, 78-year-old Edna Faye Daniels. Deputies with the Georgetown County Sheriff's Office believe that the "shooting ... was heard by multiple witnesses," including Daniels.

Deputies further asserted that when questioned, Daniels "knowingly and willfully provide[d] materially false information ... about a homicide she directly witnessed that occurred in her residence," the affidavit stated. Daniels was then arrested and charged with obstruction of justice and accessory after the fact to murder. She is currently housed without bail in the Georgetown County jail.

"There are consequences for lying to the police during a criminal investigation," remarked Sheriff Carter Weaver.

Based on Woodruff's history of reported violence, Daniels would have been foolish to intervene on his behalf. At the time of Walker's murder, Woodruff was out on bond after he allegedly murdered two of his relatives and then attacked his girlfriend, who had supposedly been his accomplice.

Back in May 2021, the bodies of Debra Goins and Roger Woodruff Sr. had been discovered by a neighbor conducting a welfare check. The victims had been found with "multiple blunt force trauma wounds to their heads" and were pronounced deceased.

Woodruff, a relative of the victims, had been living at their residence at the time of their death and was charged with two counts of murder in connection to the crime. His girlfriend, Alecia Renee Childers, who allegedly assisted in the commission of the murders, also sustained blunt force trauma to the head that same evening when Woodruff later allegedly struck her in the head. Therefore, Woodruff has also been charged with attempted murder in connection to the attack against Childers, and Childers has been charged with two counts of murder in connection to the deaths of Goins and Roger Woodruff.

Though in June 2021, Woodruff stood accused of three vicious crimes, a judge set Woodruff's bond at $100,000, and Woodruff was released pending trial. Walker was killed about 18 months later.

"This turned out really, really bad," admitted 15th Circuit Solicitor Jimmy Richardson, who oversaw Woodruff’s 2021 bond hearing.

The family of Ty’Quez Walker claimed that he might be alive today if not for the pervasive dysfunction in the criminal justice system. "Ryan [Woodruff] probably pulled the trigger, but the justice system in Georgetown killed my son," said Seccoya Middleton.

"I just know for sure that if somebody was conscious of what [Woodruff] did, this would not happen," added Walker's uncle, Brandon Walker.

In connection to Walker's death, Woodruff has been charged with murder and possession of a weapon during a violent crime and booked into the Georgetown County jail. No bail has been set.

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