Valerie Kwaita Baccus, 46, of Florence, South Carolina, was shot to death at a residence on West Cheves Street on June 2, 2021. Colleagues at her employer, Assurant, remembered her as warm and genuine; friends and family described her as loving and mourned the sudden, violent loss.

Law enforcement identified a suspect within hours and named Valerie’s 25-year-old son, Eric Timmons Jr., as the person responsible for the homicide. Reports say he fled the state, triggering a multi-agency manhunt involving the Florence Police Department, the Florence County Sheriff’s Office, and the U.S. Marshals Service Task Force. Officers located Timmons the same evening at an Econo Lodge on North Horner Boulevard in Sanford, North Carolina, and took him into custody without incident.

Timmons was charged with murder and possession of a weapon during the commission of a violent crime and held without bail pending extradition to South Carolina. If anyone knew Valerie, her routines, or has information about the events leading up to June 2, please come forward.