A long friendship ended in a fatal dispute in Aiken, South Carolina. On the evening of May 9, 2024, 56-year-old William Joseph Collins, a white carpenter, was found unresponsive inside his Sparkleberry Lane home with a gunshot wound to the head and was pronounced dead at the scene. Responding officers arrived after a call around 6:50 p.m.

Collins had lived with his 61-year-old roommate Vance Mack Fleming for about seven years; the two were described as best friends since childhood. According to the victim’s son, a heated argument over a dog escalated while Fleming was heavily intoxicated and culminated in the shooting. A third friend who was present placed the call to police.

Fleming was arrested at the residence and charged with murder and possession of a weapon during a violent crime. An autopsy was scheduled in Newberry to officially determine the cause of death. Does anyone who knew William or the household have information about what led up to that night?