On October 9, 2022, Gloria Dewitt, 52, and her husband James Jim Dewitt II, 52, were found dead at their home on Greensprings Drive in Northeast Columbia, South Carolina, from apparent gunshot wounds after a wellness check. Their deaths were part of a triple homicide that same day; Gloria’s cousin, 52-year-old Natasha Stevens, was found dead in her Conway home earlier that day.

Gloria and Jim were high school sweethearts and co-owners of Legends Security & Sound in Columbia. Both were described as active, respected community members; Jim had recently been elected as an Atlantic Beach councilman. Investigators identified Matthew Allen Dewitt, their 25-year-old son, as the alleged perpetrator. He was taken into custody in Atlantic Beach the Monday after the bodies were discovered and was charged in Horry County with the murder of Natasha Stevens. Richland County authorities publicly named him as the suspect in his parents’ deaths; the motive has not been released.

Did anyone in the community know of tensions within the family or have information that could help explain what happened?